Assassin
by zizzy333
Summary: Someone's after Danny, and they're getting pretty close to completely blowing his secret.
1. Chapter 1

fadsfadf

--

**Assassin**

--

_Time seemed to speed up again, and the screams he took to be background noise before was now amplified. _

"_DANNY!" His mom cried seeing him first. The rest of his family whirled around to see him on the ground, his face bleeding, and collectively gasped._

_He wouldn't have guessed this would be the outcome of the day, when the beginning was so peaceful._

_And he would have never even thought that it would only be the first of the mysterious attempts on his life. _

--

**DAY 1**

**Sunday**

**April 23, 2007**

--

_FENTON WORKS_

_11:12 am_

"Wow. Who knew? Danny Fenton actually cleans up pretty well."

Danny smiled and turned away from the mirror. "I'm going to take that as a compliment." He stated, snatching his socks off the dresser and turning to the familiar voice.

Sam was leaning casually against the doorframe with the ever-present smirk plastered to her face. Well, ever-present as long as Danny was around, at least. Especially when he was dressed up.

Danny was wearing a blue button up collared shirt with black pants and new shiny shoes sitting at the foot of his bed. "My mom wanted me to wear a suit but…" He shrugged, and collapsed on to his bed. "I don't wanna goooo." He whined pathetically.

Sam stood up and walked over to sit in his computer chair. "Hey, most families would be honored to sit behind the senator at her position acceptance speech or whatever." She said, spinning in the chair.

"I don't see why she's still broadcasting us though. Just because she takes a tough stand against ghosts doesn't mean we have to be the face of her campaign. Plus she's already won!"

"Chill Danny." Sam soothed. "It's just an hour of sitting and pretending to be interested."

He sighed, and lifted up his leg to put on his socks while still laying down. When he was finished, he flopped back down for a moment, and then with an over exaggerated groan, sat up to put on his shoes.

Suddenly he looked up. "You'll be there though. Right?"

Sam stopped spinning. "Yep. Unfortunately. My parents were kinda big contributors to her campaign fund. I'll be front row and center."

He looked at least a little bit relieved. "Good. So can we come up with some sort of silent and subtle language please? Because I'm really not looking forward to this."

She smiled. "There's no need. I can read you're face like an open book. Just for future warning, never play poker. It's a wonder how you've kept your secret this long." She added, throwing her arms up it a stretch.

He deadpanned, but Sam didn't see it. She yawned. "It's too hot in here. I'm falling asleep." She stated, getting up and throwing open the window. However instead of a pleasant breeze to cool them off, a huge torrent of wind suddenly ripped through the room, sending loose papers flying.

Both Sam and Danny jumped when the door slammed shut. "Stupid wind…" Danny mumbled, quickly standing to shut the window again. The wind cut off immediately, and the papers flitted to the floor.

"Great, thanks Sam," he grumbled sarcastically, looking at the mess. Amusement twinkled in his eyes. Stepping over randomly strewn papers, he went across his room to the door and tried to pull it open. "I think you broke my door…" he announced, jiggling the doorknob.

"Really?" She asked, also walking across his room as he started trying to yank it open. The wood creaked loudly before the door finally flew open. "That didn't sound good," she commented.

Danny pursed his lips, and jiggled the doorknob again. "Hum."

"DANNEH! ARE YOU READY TO GO?" Jack Fenton yelled up the stairs. Danny jumped at the sudden screech.

"I'm right here dad!" He exclaimed irritably, stepping out of his room and looking down the stairs.

"Oh." His dad blinked. "Well are you ready to leave, son?" He asked in a normal tone level.

"As ready as I'll ever be," he groaned, and turned back to Sam.

"I should probably get going anyways," she said. "My parents are probably trying to hunt me down in one last attempt to make me wear that dress…" She trailed off and shivered at the idea, her mind obviously far away. Danny shrugged in sympathy as she seemingly shook off the visual.

She stepped out of his room. "See you on stage," she said in farewell. Sam took off down the stairs saying, "Thanks, Mr. F," to Jack, and waved one last time at Danny before opening the front door and stepping outside.

Danny sighed, and closed his bedroom door shut behind him. He had only token a step towards the stairs before he heard a click, and he turned around to see his door swinging open again.

Eyebrows knitted together in confusion, he reached back and tried to close his door again. Once again, with a small click, the door creaked open again. "I guess we really did break the door," he mumbled. Leaving his door open, he bounded down the stairs.

--

TBC.

Ok, short, I know. But I've decided to do this story with different chapter lengths… but I kinda want to draw it out a little. It's going to be fun.

Well, today I ate blue cheese dressing with my carrots by accident (which is nasty) and I just failed a Chemistry test. Hooray me. Now I have to go to a Volleyball game!! Woot!

Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

fadsfadf

--

**Assassin**

--

_AMITY PARK CITY HALL_

_12:08 PM_

Danny and his family followed the escort through the dark and slightly hazardous backstage. People were bumbling about, all seeming to have important jobs to do. It was when one man actually crashed into Danny, knocking them both over, when Danny stopped pretending.

While his parents and Jazz were enthusiastic as ever, Danny was openly scowling, following the rest at some distance behind them. Jazz looked back and saw Danny's apparent annoyance, and slowed down to talk to him. Danny looked up at her with distaste.

"Cheer up little brother! It's not very often you get to be buddies with the senator!" She exclaimed, throwing an arm around him. She was wearing a black skirt that reached a little past her knees, and a white and blue pinstriped collared blouse.

Danny shook his head and replied quietly, "She doesn't know it, but we're not exactly buddies…"

Jazz opened her mouth to reply, but just then, the escort took them out onto the stage. Their appearance was actually met with scattered applause of the people already seated.

Danny threw up a hand to block the bright lights. Slowly his eyes adjusted, and he squinted out into the crowd.

It didn't look much better than backstage. People hurried about, trying to find their seats. There were probably one or two hundred people seated in the City Hall Auditorium. Even though all Danny was required to do was sit there, he felt himself break out into a nervous sweat.

This reminded him of why he tried so hard to blend in at school. Sticking out was not something you wanted to do if you had a secret identity to keep. All it would take is someone thinking, "Humm… He sure looks a lot like that Danny Phantom," and that would be it. Connections would be made. It was so obvious that Danny couldn't believe no one had figured it out yet.

"Oh Jack!" Maddie suddenly exclaimed fearfully. Danny shook himself out of his stage fright, and look over at his mother worriedly. "I've lost my earring!" Danny let out a sigh of relief. Being the resident super hero, he was always ready for things to go spinning into chaos.

His mom was wearing a plain black dress that was cut just above her knees, and a small gold necklace. Danny was frankly surprised his parents even took off their HAZMAT suites at all. His dad was wearing his old black tux.

"What does it look like?" Jack asked, looking wildly around the ground.

"It's my red ruby one," she explained, fingering the other one still in her ear. "Oh if we can't find it I'll be crushed!" She cried.

Danny and Jazz both dutifully started scanning the floor too when the lights went down. Danny and his family quickly took their seats against the back wall to the right of the podium, with Maddie still subtly looking for her earring. The mummer of the auditorium hushed.

Danny scanned the first row, looking for Sam. He found her quickly, like she said, front row and center, sitting between her parents scowling. She seemed to notice someone was watching her though, because she looked up and made eye contact with Danny.

He gave her a small smile and Sam's face brightened, and she waved shyly back. Right then a man walked onto stage, and stood behind the pedestal. The lights rose.

"And now, city of Amity Park," announced the man into the microphone, "I would like to present our new leader, born a raised right here in our city, our new Senator… Wanda Peterson!"

The auditorium burst into applause with banners flashing and flags waving. As the familiar plump woman walked onto stage, the crowd stood to greet her and the applause swelled.

Danny didn't see why they should be honored to sit behind her. Not only did people get to gawk at them, but also they didn't even get to see her give the speech.

Senator Peterson stood up behind the pedestal and opened her pudgy arms in greeting. "Citizens of Amity Park! Me being a native here, I'm honored… and actually a bit surprised at this turn out…" Danny plastered a politely interested look onto his face, and almost immediately zoned out.

His gaze wandered back over to Sam, who didn't have to pretend to listen, and was blatantly bored. She was staring straight ahead, her mind obviously far away. Her eyes looked like they were misted over. She had her legs crossed, and her head in her hands.

She was wearing large elephant leg black pants, with a flowing purple v-neck shirt with three quarter sleeves. She was also wearing a small black necklace with a large silvery jewel hanging from it, in which Danny had trouble taking his eyes off.

Her midnight black hair hung delicately over her face, which was what happened when Sam let all of her hair down like it was now.

Suddenly her vacant face spread into a small smile. She tilted her head, lost in her memories. Sam subconsciously looked over at Danny, and her smile widened. Danny felt his breath hitch in his throat. She looked at him a while, with that soft smile, before she finally snapped out of it. Blinking rapidly and shaking her head slightly, Sam looked like she was wakening up from a dream.

Danny and her made eye contact again, and for some reason, they both blushed, and looked away. He didn't know what came over him.

Suddenly the auditorium burst into applause again, and Senator Peterson put up her hands, signaling the crowd to hush. "Thank you, thank you," she stepped back from the podium and her eyes quickly passed over Danny and his family.

"Also I would like to thank the Fenton's, for their hard work keeping all of Amity ghost free." She declared, smiling. Once again the audience cheered and hooted. Jack hopped to his feet and took a swooping bow, and Maddie, still smiling proudly, dragged him back down.

All of Danny's self restraint was put to the test. Not only did he have to keep smiling proudly, but he also had to consciously concentrate on not turning invisible. He stole a glance at his sister, and was happy to see her smile looked strained too. Her eye twitched.

Finally the applause died down, and the attention was drawn back to the Senator. She looked warmly over the crowd. "Now I'm open to take questions," she stated.

There was a pause, but then the press section, which occupied the best seats in the middle, stood up and all starting talking at once. Danny looked down at Sam and saw her shaking with silent laughter. He quickly looked away.

That's when something dropped into his lap. Danny blinked. It was a piece of paper that was crumpled up into a ball. It was as if someone had thrown it. He scanned the room, looking for someone who might have tossed it at him, but no one jumped out. Sam was busy fiddling with her fancy silver wristwatch. No one seemed to notice it.

With one eyebrow cocked into the air, Danny sneakily unfolded the note. He read it several times.

_Today Phantom will fall_

He flipped it over. There was no signature. _'What the heck?' _he thought. He looked out at the crowd again. No one's face seemed to scream, "I just send you a death threat," or "I know you're secret freak," so he looked skyward. His ghost sense hadn't gone off… but a ghost still could have dropped it from a distance… a really really far distance.

There was a dome over the audience's head, so there could easily be a ghost floating there far enough away not to trigger his ghost sense, but he shook his head. They would need to have pinpoint accuracy to have thrown it at him from that far away.

He shoved the note in his pocket. He would have to discus it with Tucker and Sam. He looked down at her, and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or not to see her looking at him seriously again.

She was obviously trying to use their made up silent language with him, but he was totally clueless. Maybe Sam could read his face, but that certainly didn't go both ways.

He shot her the "I'll tell you later" look, and she apparently received it, because she sighed and sunk down in her chair.

Suddenly a question caught his attention. A longhaired brunet stood up. "Laura Botkin from the Amity Times. Senator Peterson," she started, a notebook and pencil ready in her eager hands.

"As you know there has been much debate about a the ghost Danny Phantom. A recent poll shows that the city is divided in half between thinking he is good and evil. With your harsh stand against ghost, what is your opinion of him?"

Senator Peterson opened her mouth to reply, but paused. She took a breath a smiled. "That is a good question," she chuckled. "According to state statistics, Ms. Botkin, Danny Phantom has been documented to destroy property and cause chaos, along with other ghosts, as I'm sure you know." She took a breath, and Danny let one out, already given up hope.

To his surprise, Peterson continued. "However, also documented is the countless number of lives he's saved. Whether they were set up or not is arguable, just as if he actually tries to destroy buildings or is just a kid with bad aim and too much power." Danny face slipped to show his irritation for a millisecond, until he forced it impassible again.

The senator's face went suddenly stern. "But it doesn't matter if he's bad or good. My statement all throughout this campaign was that all ghosts need to be eliminated, and Phantom is no exception."

The press section couldn't hold it anymore. Once again they all got to their feet and asked questions all at once. Peterson put up her hands once again in her signature signal for the crowd to quite. "That's all the questions I'll be taking today," she said seriously.

Then, quickly switching masks, she did her best to shoot the audience a charming grin. "Thank you Amity Park! I promise to make our state a better, ghost free place," she proclaimed, and waved to the cheering crowd.

She stepped down from the podium as the audience stood and the cheers climbed. Danny and his family stood with everyone else, clapping and smiles firmly plastered into place. Suddenly a glimpse of red caught Danny's eye.

He looked down and saw the red ruby earring his mom was missing. It was hiding, tucked behind the chair leg of his father's seat. Ignoring the senator passing in front of him, he bent down to pick up the earring. That's when it happened, and it happened very, very fast.

An earsplitting bang rang throughout the room, just as the wood cracked behind him. Screams echoed through the room as the senators body guards threw her down to the ground. Danny shot up at the noise, earring clutched in his hand as another gunshot pierced through the air. The wood behind him splintered again, sending sharp shards into the air.

Danny, feeling a sharp sting curt across his face, stumbled backwards and tripped over someone running, making him fall back. He quickly scrambled to his elbows, lifting his head to see what hit him.

He looked at the wooden wall behind his seat, and saw a gaping hole where the wood had been cracked, and finally blown apart. He looked closer and saw two smaller holes. Bullet holes.

Someone had tried to assassinate the senator, but they'd nearly taken out him instead.

--

TBC.

So it begins! Hope you enjoyed! Review reply time!

SoulessAce: First review! Awesome. It will always hold a special place in my heart. Haha… annyyywayyys thanks for the tip on secrete and secret. That's the kind of stuff I like to know, and I will probably do more than once. I think I have the word secret in this chapter too and I was looking over it and thinking, "Secret! Not secrete! Don't get to E happy Zizzy!" Thanks!

Mary Blondie: I try, I try. Haha. Hope you liked this chapter as well!

Xheartkreuzx: I hope you also enjoyed this update then! Thanks!

Hawkflyer667: haha, you said "Kool" in your review, and it reminded me of an inside joke my friends and I have. Haha. You see… my real name starts with a K. Oh the possibilities. Thanks for the review, and here's your update!

Meh. I'm sick, along with the rest of everybody else at my school. Oh the joys of living in dorms.

Review!!


	3. Chapter 3

fadsfadf

_Someone had tried to assassinate the Senator, but they'd nearly taken him out instead._

**--**

**Assassin**

**--**

_AMITY PARK CITY HALL_

_1:22 PM_

He felt something warm trickle down his face. He tenderly touched it, and when he drew his hand back, they were tainted with blood. The whole side of his face seemed to sting, but he was sure he hadn't been shot.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion, but in reality, it happed in about five seconds. Time seemed to speed up again, and the screams he took to be background noise before was now amplified.

"DANNY!" Cried his mom seeing him first. The rest of his family whirled around to see him on the ground, his face bleeding, and gasped.

"I'm fine mom!" The screams nearly drowned him out. "Get out of here! It's not safe!" Jack seemed to kick into gear, and grabbed Jazz and started to usher her out. His mom tried to help him up, but he ignored her, and rolled over to his stomach and quickly jumped to his feet, searching the crowd.

"_Go_ mom!" He yelled, and then he took off into the chaos, despite his mom's protests. Going intangible and invisible, he was able to just walk through most of the swarm. He finally found her, elbowing her way up crowd, trying to get back towards the stage.

"Get—out—of—my—WAY!" Sam yelled as he approached her. "My friend is up there!"

"Sam!" He exclaimed, appearing in front of her. She jumped. "Take my hand!"

Without hesitation, she did, and he swiftly turned them invisible and intangible and took off into the air and out of the building.

"Danny! What happened to your face?!" Sam shrieked worriedly over the wind as he dove towards the ground.

"I'm fine Sam," he assured her. He slowed and gently touched down, letting go of her hand. Sam's pale face swam back into view. Danny let his invisibility go too. "It's just a scratch." Sam grabbed his chin, and lifted it, looking at the wound.

She let out a sigh of relief. "Just a few splinters. What happened in there?" She asked.

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out." He paused. "I'm going back in."

Sam nodded slowly, her biting her lower lip. "Okay. Just be careful," she warned.

Danny smirked, "I always am," he replied, and took off into the air and back into the building. Most of the people had escaped by then, and security swamped the area. Danny turned invisible, not wanting to cause any_ more _panic, and started looking.

He couldn't find _anything_. The police had no suspects, and Danny's ghost sense didn't go off. Whoever tried to shoot the Senator was gone now, and left no evidence of ever having been there behind, except for the two gunshots embedded into the wall.

After a good thirty minutes of searching, he seemed to remember his parents. They were probably worried sick. He sighed. Reluctantly, he turned his back on the crime scene, and quickly flew home. He decided that since there wasn't a ghost involved, it wasn't his business anyways.

_FENTON WORKS_

_1:38pm_

"Mom, it was just a few splinters… it doesn't even hurt," Danny rolled his eyes as his mother fussed over him at the kitchen table.

"Just because we got the splinters out, doesn't mean it won't get infected," Maddie scolded softly, and knelt down in front of him with two bottles. "Just put some of this anti-bacterial cream and spray this disinfectant, and we'll bandage you right up, kay honey? Then I'll leave you alone."

Danny, disgruntled, did as she asked. After they were done, she stood up and kissed the top of his head ("Aww gross mom!"), and went to go make him some "get better" cookies.

This, he decided, was another reason he would never tell her he actually got himself hurt a lot more on a daily basis. Besides bringing up awkward questions, he wouldn't be able to put up with her newly acquired over-protective mood much longer.

Danny checked his cell phone to see he had two missed calls… one from Tucker and one from Sam. He crossed into the living room with thoughts of calling them back until he heard the TV.

His dad seemed to be frozen sitting on the couch, his hand stretched out and his thumb hovering over the channel button. Surprisingly, he stopped on a news channel.

Danny turned to watch Tiffany Snow looking seriously at the camera. _"— what police are calling an assassination attempt on newly appointed Senator Peterson, but our crew has found some interesting developments. We'll once again play the clip, but in slow motion._"

The screen switched from a knowing nod from Tiffany, to the City Hall. Peterson was walking, in slow motion, off stage. Danny winced to see him and his family on television, smiling and clapping.

Danny watched the Senator passing him just as he bent down to pick up the earring. Half a stride later from Peterson, a gunshot appeared in the wall behind her.

… Just where his head had been.

And it happened again. Fast, even for slow motion, he watched himself shoot up in alarm, and another one appeared, lower than the first, and even further away from Peterson. Just where his head had been when he was picking up the earring. Danny felt his heart rate speed up.

"_Our specialist, Greg, is here with us now. Greg what are your thoughts?" _Tiffany asked. The screen split in two, one side showing the pretty blond, and the other showing a clean cut man with graying hair.

"_Now I think this assassin either has_ _pretty bad aim or a dog gon' good one. I think the real question here is just who was this guy trying to kill? Now look here… we've merged these two screen shots together."_

A picture popped up, and Danny saw him standing before he grabbed the earring, and the bullet hole after he had bent down. A yellow dot helped show the viewers exactly where that bullet would be if he hadn't decided to bend down.

"_I don't think it's the Senator we should be worried about here." _The old man's voice said, as the picture changed, this time to him bending down, merged with the second bullet hole. The yellow dot once again, was dead on. _"I think it's this boy behind her that should be watching his back." _

"_Thank you, Greg," _Tiffany said, turning towards a different camera.

"_Daniel Fenton- the boy standing behind Senator Peterson- is the one that should be thanking his lucky stars right now. There has been no comment made by the police or Daniel's family yet. We'll keep you updated. Stay tuned, we'll be right back."_ The news broadcasting music came on and they faded into a commercial.

--

His mom and sister had also come out to watch without him noticing. They all turned to him slowly. There was a heavy silence. Finally his mother couldn't handle it anymore, and she ran to him, eyes watering.

"Oh, Danny!" She wrapped him in a tight bear hug. "Don't worry, we'll protect you from who ever did this! You're safe, I promise."

Danny was too shocked to even push her off of him.

"We'll update this house with the newest protection on the market!" Jack exclaimed, jumping off the couch. "And fortunately, it's all right in our basement! Nobody can hurt a Fenton!"

Danny made eye contact with Jazz, and she looked even graver than both of their parents put together.

"Oh honey! I can't imagine! Whatever caused you to bend down was sent from God himself!" His mom wailed. Danny, grabbing his mother gently by the shoulders, pried her off of him. Slowly reaching into his shirt pocket, he pulled out the ruby earring, and held it out for his mom to see.

She gasped, and clapped her hands over her mouth. Then with a shaking hand, she picked up the earring. "It really was a miracle… if I hadn't lost this earring…"

Right then there was a knock at the door. Jack immediately pulled out a weapon from his tux pocket, and creped towards the door.

He creaked open the door slightly, and peaked out. "Amity Park Police, can we come in?" A deep voice said through the crack in the door.

"Sure! C'mon in!" His dad exclaimed, throwing open the door. Two police walked in.

"We're going to need to talk to Daniel. We need to make sure he's safe." A tall officer said, gesturing towards him.

Danny nodded. "Sure, that's okay." He wasn't quite sure why he was shaken up as badly as he was. The fact he had no idea what was going on scared him.

Danny was brought down to the station with his family to be questioned. Who would be trying to kill him? Was he in any gangs? Was he in to drugs? Maybe he owed somebody money? Any enemies? Would he like protection?

Danny insisted he didn't, but his parents thought otherwise. They agreed to have a police on duty outside their house every night for the next week.

--

_FENTON WORKS_

_5:27pm_

Danny walked into the house, exhausted, to find his phone ringing on the counter. Trying to force his brain back into action, he picked it up.

"Hullo?"

"Where have you been?! Tuck and I've been trying to reach you all friggen day!" Danny winced and held the phone away from his ear. He quickly ran up the stairs and into his room.

"Sorry. I was too busy lying about having anyone that would want to kill me to the police," Danny defended, plopping onto computer desk chair and spinning around absentmindedly.

"You've been on the news! People are convinced that some one is after you! What's going on?"

"I honestly have no idea," Danny admitted. "That's what has me on edge."

"Well it looked like you knew it was coming or something… up on stage. You sent me the 'we need to talk' look, remember?"

Danny's eyebrows knitted together. "What?" He thought back, and suddenly felt his heart freeze. "Oh my God, you're right! I forgot all about it with that question and assassination attempt!" He exclaimed. "I'm flying over. Call Tucker," he ordered, and then hung up before Sam could ask any questions. Then, his hand cold, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper.

_Phantom will fall_

--

Sorry… busy weekend last weekend. My mom came down for a visit, made me get three shots, (and I actually had a reaction to the Chickenpox booster… it turned into this huge red welt, got really hot, and itched) and then she gave me her death cough. So that was fun.

Anyways, here's the review replies!

**Hawkflyer667**: Yep, that was exactly what I was aiming for. It's nice to know people can picture my story the same way I saw it. Kool review! Haha

**SoulessAce**: Yep, and throughout this story, Danny will go through many attempted "whacks," … and possibly be "whacked"? haha, sorry, I just liked the word "whack" in your review… if you say it enough it starts to sound kind of weird though… hummm.

**Xheartkreuzx**: -Bows-

**Chewing Gum Girl**: You need to start coming up with ideas for stories sis… any day now.

That's all for this week! Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

fadsfadf

**-previously-**

"I'm flying over. Call Tucker," Danny ordered, and then hung up before Sam could ask any questions. Then, his hand cold, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper.

_Phantom will fall_

--

**Assassin**

--

_MANSON MANSION _

_5:37pm_

"Phantom will fall?" Sam read, looking from the paper, to Danny and back again. "So someone is after you…" she trailed off worriedly. Danny couldn't read Sam very well, be he could tell from her voice she was trying to hide just how much it scared her.

Danny was pacing around her room, his top two buttons unbuttoned, and he was rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. "And I don't know who it could be. They could be either human or ghost. The thing is, the note seemed to drop out of nowhere onto my lap… but my ghost sense didn't go off… and it didn't go off during the shootout either," he listed off.

"So my best guess is that's its a few super sneaky humans then," Tucker said rounding the corner into Sam's room, and closing the door behind him. "I came as soon as I could," he stated, walking over and sitting on a small black couch. He expertly flipped out his PDA and started typing.

Danny's head snapped up when his friend came in, but now he sat down next to Sam and looked closely at the note again. "Well, whoever… or whatever it is- knows my secret identity… and that could be a problem."

Sam shook her head. "But how could the note just drop from the sky like that?" Sam asked. "I think it's a ghost."

"Got it," Tucker suddenly proclaimed, standing up. He quickly went to sit on the other side of Sam.

"These are the blue prints to city hall," Tucker informed them, zooming in. Sam shot him a look, and Tucker rolled his eyes. "Don't worry Sam, I didn't do any hacking this time… these are public records." Sam nodded approvingly. "It defiantly takes all the fun out of it though." He mumbled to Danny, which received him a sharp elbow in the ribs from Sam ("Ow! Chill out dude!").

"So this is the stage?" Danny asked, pointing at the big clear area.

"Yep," Tucker replied, zooming in even more. "You're seats would be right about… here." He pointed to the back wall of the stage. There was a structure right over it.

"What is that?" Sam asked, leaning in for a closer look.

"I think it's a catwalk." Tucker stated matter-of-factly. "Some one could have dropped it from there."'

"I don't know Tuck," Danny sighed, leaning against the bedpost and running a hand through his hair. "It just doesn't feel right. I looked around right when I got it… and I didn't see anyone."

"They could have just been hiding in the shadows. You never know," Tucker shrugged. "I think I'm right on this one guys."

Sam flopped back on her bed. "Then I guess our next question is, who knows your secret?"

"And how did they figure it out?" Danny added. Silence rang throughout the room.

--

**DAY 2**

**MONDAY**

**April 24, 2007**

--

_CASPER PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL_

_2:58pm_

Danny sat in class, his foot tapping the floor lightly in impatience. His school day had more or less been like walking through hell. At every corner he expected to see a deranged teen with a gun, screaming that he was a freak that needed to die. Danny shivered.

Finally the bell rang, and Danny was the first one out of class. He reached his locker in record time. He had already packed his bag and was closing his locker when Sam and Tucker caught up with him.

"Where's the fire?" Tucker asked, throwing an arm over his shoulder. "Relax, man, you've been so uptight today, you've failed to see how good it's actually been!"

"What are you talking about?!" Danny exclaimed. "Today's been horrible! Not only am I being tormented by the idea my secret could be in jeopardy, but I've also half expected a second assassination attempt every time I walk into class! I don't see anything 'good' about that!"

Danny watched Sam tuck the last of her books into her bag. "Well, at least there's been no ghost attacks. That's the first in…" Sam paused, thinking. "Well… in a while," she shrugged, slamming her locker closed.

"And there's been no sign of Dash today either! I don't even think he's at school!" Tucker added in excitedly, as they walked towards his locker.

Sam froze. "He wasn't at school?" Danny and Tucker stopped and looked back at her. She made eye contact with Danny. "Maybe it's him."

Danny shook his head. "No. It couldn't be." He turned around and started walking again. Tucker and Sam quickly caught up with him.

"Why not?" Sam asked. "Maybe he followed you into an ally one day thinking he would get the upper hand and instead saw you transform…"

Danny was still shaking his head. "No. He's too big of a fan. He and Paullina practically lead the Phantom Fan Club in Amity. He wouldn't try to kill me."

Sam still tried to convince him otherwise. "Well he thinks Phantom is super cool doesn't he? Maybe when he figured out it was you, he couldn't stand it, and was overcome with jealousy!"

"Sam," Danny stopped suddenly, making Sam and Tucker screech to a halt. "Do you really see Dash doing that? I mean… come on."

"You never know Danny. You have to keep your options open." Tucker chipped in. Danny gave him a look. There was only a small pause before Tucker gave in. "Okay, okay. I don't see him doing it. But it would be really cool to see him in jail wouldn't it?"

Sam huffed, and they waited in silence for Tucker to get his things out of his locker. Finally they stepped out of the building with the throng of people.

As they rounded the corner to walk home, Danny groaned. Sam and Tucker looked up at him worriedly. "I can't believe it's only Monday."

Tucker smiled. "Cheer up. I say we go over to your house for some of that mint chocolate chip ice cream and unwind before doing any homework."

Danny tripped. "What was that? Mint Chocolate Chip…?"

"Yeah! I saw it in your freezer two days ago. I took some when you had to fly out to stop Klemper."

Danny started laughing. "I can't believe you ate that stuff!" He bent over double. "That wasn't ice cream!"

Tucker stopped dead. "… What?" He asked darkly.

Sam and Danny burst into laughter at their friends face. Tucker looked green. He obviously put two and two together. "Aw man! Then I _was_ glowing last night! I knew it wasn't a trick of the light!"

Sam and Danny were bent over themselves with laughter, leaning on each other for support, but Tucker didn't see what was so funny. He drew back his shoulders and puffed out his chest with what dignity he had left. "Well I think it's saying something I was able to down it without being sick."

Then he turned on his heel and marched ahead. "Tucker, wait!" Danny choked out. "We're sorry!" He apologized, not sounding sorry at all. Wiping off tears, he grabbed Sam and ran after him.

Tucker had stopped a little ahead of them, making his way to the front of a small crowd they hadn't noticed formed while laughing. Dark murmurs met their ears. Tucker suddenly turned back to look at them. His face sobered up Sam and Danny immediately.

They ran up to the gathering of about seven or eight people, and tried to see what they were looking at. Danny nudged his way to the front. There in front of him was a simple message written in red paint on the sidewalk that sent chills down his spine.

_**DP, BEWARE**_

"What do you think DP stands for?" A girl asked behind him.

"I don't know…" her friend replied. "But you don't think that's… blood do you?"

"No, bloods darker than that." Danny replied with out really knowing what he was saying. It succeeded shutting the girls up.

He crouched in front of it, looking at it closely. The paint was still wet. He stood back up and scanned the area, checking every nook and cranny, but once again, he saw nothing. Who ever painted it was now gone.

This was his second warning. The first one was quickly followed by someone trying to kill him. He whirled around to look at Sam and Tucker. He imagined his face similar to theirs… white, and frightened.

"C'mon." He murmured, and hopped over the painted message, and they followed without hesitation. As soon as they got far enough away, Danny said, "I think someone is going to try to off me again." He made sure to look down allies and check the roofs of buildings. "I think you guys should get away from me… last time I nearly got Senator Peterson killed…"

"Danny, if you think we're going to leave you now, you're crazy." Sam stated seriously, also looking around. "Let's just make it the last block to you're house and we can lock the windows and doors and put up the ghost shield." Tucker nodded his head in agreement.

Knowing better than to argue with Sam, Danny just led the way, walking at a fast pace. The trek to his house seemed to last a lifetime, even though it actually only took them about a minute to get there.

By the time his house came into view, they were running. Danny, being the fastest, reached his house first while Sam and Tucker were still catching up. He decided that the more space between them, the better. He threw open the front door and was about to stumble inside when it happened.

A blinding white light burst from the top of the staircase. Danny automatically threw up his hands for protection just as the blast hit him. With a blistering heat, he felt himself fly backwards, his ears assaulted by a loud rumbling. Then it all went black.

--

TBC…

Dang! _Another_ cliffie. Sorry. But it's so much fun to hear what y'all think is going to happen next.

Review Replies!

SoulessAce- haha thanks for the props. I really try to keep everybody in character. And yeah… I can see how it lacked some description. I'm not very good at fillers… I like to jump right into the action. I'll probably come back to all of my stories some day (like Detention at Starbucks now) and go, "Oh. My. God. What was I _thinking _when I wrote this? Was I three years old?!" haha. But for now I'm just kind of like "bah, screw it. I have work to do." Lol

Kyuubi-kun XD- thank you for your influence! I appreciated it. Haha.

Lydielupin- I really love it when people go through and review all my chapters. I makes me think back to them and go "oh yeah!" good job commenting on the small stuff… because it just might come back…

Paegoghost- Oh! You guys are sisters! Cool! My lil' sister is Chewing Gun Girl, except she doesn't isn't in to Fanfiction (yet) sooo… she sucks. Anywhooo same goes with her as with you. I've really enjoyed getting all of your reviews over the week! It's really made several of my bad days. So thanks!

That's all for this week! Review pleaseeee!


	5. Chapter 5

**-Previously-**

...

_**DP, BEWARE**_

_Danny whirled around to look at Sam and Tucker. He imagined his face similar to theirs… white, and frightened._

_..._

_"I think you guys should get away from me… last time I nearly got Senator Peterson killed…"_

_"Danny, if you think we're going to leave you now, you're crazy." Sam stated seriously._

_..._

_Danny, being the fastest, reached his house first while Sam and Tucker were still catching up. He decided that the more space between them, the better. He threw open the front door and was about to stumble inside when it happened._

_A blinding white light burst from the top of the staircase. Danny automatically threw up his hands for protection just as the blast hit him. With a blistering heat, he felt himself fly backwards, his ears assaulted by a loud rumbling. Then it all went black._

---

**Assassin**

---

He was only out for a moment. He blinked awake to see two dark blurs arriving over him. They blocked his vision, but he couldn't seem to focus on them.

There was a high pitched ringing in his ears that was really starting to give him a headache… not that he needed one on top of the throb that was already there. It felt like a jackhammer was being drilled into his skull.

Danny tried to scramble up, but something was holding him down, and whatever it was, it hurt. He stopped struggling.

Finally, after a lot more blinking and focusing, everything got a little less hazy. He was able to recognize the outlines of Sam and Tucker, and realize they were trying to speak with him, but he couldn't hear them to save his life.

As he slowly came to his senses, he discovered that everything seemed to ache, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. "What the heck was that?" He asked, realizing he could barely even hear himself. Sam and Tucker seemed to flinch back for some reason, and their reply was drowned out by the ringing in his ears.

He slowly started to sit up, and this time, his friends helped him gently. Holding his head, he sat there for a minute, willing the ringing to hush up.

Sam was rubbing his shoulders comfortingly, and looking closely at his face, forcing him to look at her. Danny had trouble thinking straight with her this close, so he closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

He started to hear other things. He heard a quieter roar in the background, and the wind whistling in his ears. Finally Tucker's voice became more than a murmur. "Can you hear us dude?" Then there was more mumbling.

Danny opened his eyes, and saw Sam and Tucker both peering at him, obviously concerned. "What's going on?" Danny asked, loud enough to hear himself.

"You don't have to yell dude," said Tuckers voice a little louder. "Are you okay?"

Danny slowly started to get to his feet, pushing away Sam and Tucker's help. "I think—" but he stopped, looking past his friends for the first time. He figured out what the background noise was.

His house was on fire.

Adrenalin sharpened his senses immediately. He took a running start towards the nearest ally, but his legs, still shaking too much to support him, gave out. He fell to his knees.

Danny looked up at his house again. There might be someone inside… Jazz always drives home after school, and his parents are almost always down in the lab… ignoring Sam trying to pull him back, he shakily got to his feet and quickly checked the area for people watching.

"Goin' ghost," he mumbled, and the blue rings burst into life. He felt the cold power wash over him like a bucket of ice water being dumped on his head. His ghost powers nearly completely healed his confusion, and the ringing in his ears pretty much disappeared.

He was finally able to hear what Sam was saying. "Wait, Danny! It's not a good idea to just go charging-" but he already took off into the air, and phased into the living room.

Danny scanned the room, looking for his family, but he didn't see anybody. He looked at the stairs. They were dancing with flames, and slowly spreading into the living room. Taking a deep breath in, he closed his eyes and concentrated. When they opened again, they were glowing ice blue.

Shooting ice from his eyes, he quickly coated the stairs with the slippery solid. When the stairs were completely put out, he looked on the second floor. That seemed to be mainly where the fire was. Quickly flying up, he looked at the damage. The hall and his room seemed to be the worse. The heat was intense.

Without hesitation, he shot ice from both of his hands, working a while on putting out everything in his room and the hall. Then he continued down the hall, replacing the scalding orange and red with cool blue.

He was relieved to find Jazz's room was only a bit damaged, and the fire didn't even get into his parents room, since the door was closed. However he didn't see his parents or Jazz anywhere. Suddenly exhausted, he flew back out to a worried Sam and Tucker.

"Are you guys okay?" He asked, landing in front of them and quickly reverting back before the firemen came. "Did you get caught in the blast too?"

They both shook their heads. "We were just passing your neighbors when you went in," Tucker supplied.

Danny nodded gravely and looked at his driveway. "I didn't see any sign of my parents or Jazz… but neither of the cars are there… I hope they're okay," he sighed, looking back up at the house.

Sam placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure they're fine. Your parents probably patrolling, and your sister might have stayed after school to do a paper… or something." Then she asked, "What happened? All we saw was you go in and… kaboom."

"I don't know," he admitted, "but I froze up the top floor pretty good. I think whatever happened, happened up there."

"Well, if this person is really trying to put you six feet under, he seems to be having a lot of bad luck." Tucker stated, leading the way to the house. "Maybe he's just trying to threaten you. Make you go underground for awhile."

"Then he obviously doesn't know me. Be careful," Danny added as they entered the house.

Sam wrinkled her nose. "Smells like a bonfire in here," she said, looking at the burnt carpet. Taking the lead, Danny carefully walked up the icy stairs. He decided if anything were to happen again, he would rather him go then Sam or Tucker.

"I thought you liked bonfires, oh Mother Nature," Tucker commented idly, stealing a quick glance back at Sam as he treaded up the slippery stairs.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Oh please," she moaned sarcastically, "and I do like the smell of bonfires… just not inside houses."

"Shh!" Danny shushed, finally getting to the door of his room. The door was blown to bits, it's wood scattering the hall. His room was completely iced over, but through the ice, he saw the black of what the fire destroyed.

Danny realized the eerie silence was even worse then the halfhearted bickering. "Let's split up. Search the room. If there's anything suspicious, don't touch it. A blow like that from this close would defiantly kill us."

Danny searched under his bed and in his closet while Tucker checked his desk. Sam looked over his dresser. "Man… did you seriously have to ice _everything_? I keep slipping!" Tucker whined.

"Actually he's got a point," Sam agreed. "What if there's something in the drawers? But be careful… we don't want another one to go off." Danny nodded and shot green ectoplasm from his finger, carefully thawing off his desk and dresser.

They searched the entire room without finding anything. While Sam and Danny's backs were turned, Tucker tried to sit down on Danny's bed, forgetting about the ice. He slid off it with a thunk.

They turned to see Tucker scrambling up. "Aww man! This is pointless!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "I don't think we're going to find anything… I doubt there's another bomb, and I don't think we're going to find the _already detonated_ one," he told them in frustration.

Danny shook his head, still looking at where Tucker fell. "Look… there." Under a particularly thick piece of ice, they saw something black. Danny kneeled over it and, lighting his finger again, carefully melted the ice over it.

"It's the bomb…" Danny trailed off once it was completely melted off. It was what remained of a wristwatch and a couple of frayed wires… still attached to the doorknob.

Tucker stood up and slid over to the doorframe. "Look! I missed it before, but if you look here, you can still see there was something attached here… see the melted plastic?" He asked, his mood changing completely now that they had found something.

Danny and Sam stood up and examined it too. "So the bomb was supposed to go off when you opened your door?" Sam asked, turning to Tucker. He nodded. "Then why did it go off when you opened the door downstairs?"

As if on cue, a slight wind ruffled their hair. Danny looked over at the shattered window. The solution hit him like a block.

"My door was broken…" he realized. "It wouldn't stay shut after you opened the window," he exclaimed, turning to Sam. "So when I opened the front door-"

Tucker caught on, "-The air pressure in the house changed, so you're door blew open and-"

"Boom…" Sam finished. They sat in silence for a moment, trying not to think of what could have happened if it wasn't for their luck.

Sam suddenly smiled. "You owe me big time ghost boy. I just saved your life," Sam said, punching his arm playfully, but Danny couldn't seem to smile.

"Yeah… but how many more times will I get lucky?" Danny asked darkly. "First my moms earring… then the broken door…"

Tucker nodded in agreement. "Well in a twisted kind of way… those warnings could be a blessing." Sam and Danny looked at him weirdly. "What? I mean, so far you've gotten them just before something happens… maybe next time you see one, you should just get out of town for a while."

Danny shook his head, and started idly thawing out the rest of his room. "And let someone else take my fall? What if Jazz opened the door? Or what if Senator Peterson stopped to wave?"

He sighed. "What if that's what they want me to do? Pack my bags and leave town? Then the city would be left vulnerable. No," he shook his head, "I can't run. I have to find whoever it is, and stop them before they hurt innocent people."

With a look that said they didn't agree, Sam and Tucker painfully nodded. "It kinda sucks being the hero… ya know… always having to do the right thing," Sam said quietly. Danny didn't reply.

"Well… let's just hope third time _isn't_ the charm." Tucker said seriously as sirens sounded in the distance.

---

TBC…

Hola! My weeks are continuously getting busier and busier leading up to Thanksgiving. And sorry for not updating Of Being a Hero… I'm not sure if that one will be updated today or not. Don't kill me please!

Okay, review replies!

Hawkflyer667- indeed. I think I am getting more evil with age. But this isn't too much of a cliffy… right?

SoullessAce- LOL! That is possibly some of the best nutsheling (ok. i fixed it.) I've heard in a while. "Little splash of humor, a bit of drama, and hey! Look! We've got violence at the end!" hahahaha. Story of my life. Ah. What would I do without you catching my speeling misstakces?

Pixie dust of doom- hummm. Well, we'll just have wait and see if it's a human or a ghost… and now you know it wasn't Danny's parents. Good guess. Haha

Lydielupin- Yeah… I try to come up with new plots and stuff. And I love Tucker too… he's such a good friend and provides comic relief at the right moment. And it's always good to have your sister in debt to you. ;)

Paegoghost- Yep. At least this one isn't _as_ bad, right? Haha… They're just so much fun though!

Xheartkreuzx- Thanks! Hope you liked this chapter too!

SamZ- aww. Hahahha… because I felt like it! That's why. I hope you feel better now… a little...

Pearl84- Howdy! Yep… I like writing suspenseful stories. And I guess you'll just have to keep reading if you want to figure out who's after him. Don't fall off your chair! HAHA! … sorry, I'm lammme.

Dreamgirl43- I'm sorry I'm so evil. But it keeps people coming back to read, doesn't it? Haha… you're def. like the zillionth person to say those exact words. Maybe I should actually consider doing something about all of my evil cliffies… ? humm.

DPOH123- Sorry for the killer suspense. It's just how I roll. Haha. Hope you liked this chapter!

Okeydokey! (I can't believe I actually just typed that… and why I haven't deleted it yet) That's all for now folks!

Review!


	6. Chapter 6

**-Previously-**

…

_**Today Phantom will fall**_

_Someone had tried to assassinate the senator, but they'd nearly taken out him instead._

…

_**DP, BEWARE**_

_A blinding white light burst from the top of the staircase… with a blistering heat it all went black._

…

"_Maybe next time you see one, you should just get out of town for a while."… "But what if that's what they want me to do? No, I can't run. I have to find whoever it is and stop them before they hurt innocent people." …"Well… let's just hope third time _isn't_ the charm." _

_---_

_FENTON WORKS _

_5:45pm_

Finally the last of fire fighters and the police left the house, and Danny let out a sigh of relief. His mom put left over spaghetti on the table in front of him.

"Imagine if anyone had been in the house!" His mother exclaimed for the hundredth time that night, setting down another plate in front of Jazz and his dad. "I didn't even know _how_ that box of our faulty experiments got up into the hall anyways… even less what triggered them."

"And I don't ever remember making an ice gun…" Jack said, looking at them all suspiciously. Danny tried to smile innocently, but Jazz just kicked him under the table. "But it worked pretty dang good didn't it!" He exclaimed, jumping back to his usual self. "Hey Mads, we should probably find out which gun it was huh? Then we can use it against ghosts!"

"Mmm," she replied back, not really paying attention. "But how are we going to thaw out all that ice…?"

Danny easily hid his relief that his parents believed his cover up story. He had thought of it just before the firemen arrived, and quickly fired all the guns in the faulty weapons box right outside his room before phasing Sam and Tucker out.

They had decided to keep what was really going on quiet. Mostly because if anyone made the connection between Phantom's warnings and Danny's near death experiences, his secret would be blown (if it wasn't already), and secondly because he didn't think he could stand his mom fretting over him again.

Plus he couldn't even bear his sister's knowing looks from across the table. She knew something was up, and Danny could feel a "concerned sister talk" coming on.

After dinner, his parents handed out non-lethal ectoplasmic guns to melt the ice, and they set to work. Danny looked at his, and recognized it as one his parents tried to use on him last week while he was fighting the box ghost.

"Wait…" he said, while watching his parents thaw out the stairs. "When you say non-lethal, do you mean that it's non lethal to ghosts? Or just humans?"

His mom and dad found this quite funny. "What are you talking about honey?" His mom asked, laughter in her voice. "Of course it's lethal to ghost! Why would we invent something that wasn't?" His mom and dad laughed again, and shaking theirs heads, got back to work.

Danny saw Jazz trying to make eye contact with him, but he purposely looked away, and decided to go thaw out his room some more. While he past his parents, he felt Jazz start following him up too. He rolled his eyes. He knew she wanted going to go all psychologist on him, but right now, he hated to admit he needed it.

He felt like there was something hovering just out of his eyesight. He would turn sharply to catch it, but there would be nothing there. He was getting paranoid, but he defended that he had to be. All it would take was one second of him being off guard and that could be it.

Once they got to his room, they both flipped on their guns and started melting the ice. "Are you okay?" Jazz asked worriedly, but quietly enough so his parents wouldn't hear.

"I'm fine… for right now at least." Danny replied back tiredly.

Jazz looked over at him and saw how weary he looked. "Want to talk about it?" She asked.

Danny nodded. "Sam, Tuck, and I have kind of come to a dead end. Maybe you can think of something we've overlooked."

Jazz nodded. "Living room at ten?" She suggested.

Danny looked over his shoulder to make sure his parents weren't within hearing distance. "As long as mom and dad are asleep."

Jazz shot a comforting smile over at her brother. "Don't worry. We'll figure it out."

"I hope so…" Danny said quietly, turning to melt the ice off of the walls.

_FENTON WORKS_

_9:59pm _

"Wow… you're punctual," Danny admired, sitting up on the couch, watching Jazz come down the stairs. Every time she took a step there was a squishing sound.

"Ech… the stairs are sopping! My feet are getting wet _through_ my slippers." Jazz whined.

"Sorry. I didn't know what else to do… I didn't know if there was anyone in the house when it blew sky high." Danny said, deciding to get right down to business.

Jazz's eyebrows shot up. "Wait… someone tried to blow up the house?" She asked, sitting on the armrest of the couch.

"Not the entire house… just my room," Danny replied gravely.

Jazz looked over at him, double-checking to see if there were any wounds she missed. "But you weren't in there when it blew, were you?"

"No… but I could have been. If Sam hadn't broken my door the day before, I wouldn't be here right now."

Jazz looked terrified for half of a second, but then quickly hid it. Danny thought he might of imagined it. "Do you know who put the bomb there?" She asked.

Danny shook his head. "That's where I thought you might be able to help."

Jazz looked at him weirdly. "I don't know as many ghosts as you do Danny. Why would I be able to help?"

"Because we're not sure if it's a ghost or not," Danny said, lying back down on the couch.

Jazz took a second to process the information. "You don't mean you think a _human_ tried to blow up your room? I know you get bullied at school… but this is ridiculous!"

Danny was starting to get slightly irritated. "Wait… before you go jumping to conclusions, can I just finish the story?" Jazz bit her lip and nodded.

"We think someone is trying to off me. Upstairs was attempt number two, and the first one was at Senator Peterson's speech," now Danny watched Jazz's reaction closely, "I've gotten warnings before each of them addressed to Phantom… but my ghost sense didn't go off either time."

Jazz gave the response he expected. She looked panicked. There was a silence as she soaked in the information. Then Jack let out a loud snore from upstairs, and they both jumped.

Danny swallowed and continued. "So either it's a human I don't know, or a really deadly ghost… because the ghost would have to be pretty far away to not upset my ghost sense." Danny replied in a whisper, falling back on his pillow and staring up at the slightly blackened ceiling.

"How far are we talking?"

He closed his eyes and thought. "I don't know… I've never tested it… maybe a block or two?"

She groaned. "I can see that happening maybe with the bomb, but with the shooting…? This guy would have to have-"

"Pin-point accuracy? I know," Danny finished for her. He breathed deeply. "So either way I'm kind of screwed. I'm either fighting a powerful ghost, or my secret's in jeopardy by a human who's figured me out and has a vendetta against me."

Jazz winced. "Not good. Do you have any idea who it is?"

"I don't… but Sam thinks it could be Dash because he wasn't at school today, but other than that we've got nothing." Danny shrugged.

They paused in thought. "Have you considered Valerie?" Jazz asked. Danny blinked. "She totally has a reason to hate Phantom, and I think if she figured out it was you… especially because she liked you…"

Danny shot up, thinking. "Oh my gosh Jazz… I think you could be right! I totally forgot about her…" he paused, searching his memory. "She hasn't talked to me since last week!"

Jazz stood up to pace the room, holding her chin in thought. "Did you guys fight recently?"

Danny bit his lip, thinking, then slowly nodded. "Last week. It didn't last long. I ditched her pretty fast and then I—" he trialed off, his eyes widening. "I went straight back here and transformed."

"She must have followed you here. Saw you change back," Jazz summed up, still pacing.

Danny moaned and sunk back down to the couch. "How could I have been so stupid?!" He hissed, hitting his forehead.

Jazz ignored him and continued listing off the evidence. "She would be the only one to have the equipment…"

But Danny stopped listening, and suddenly perked up. "Wait… it can't be her!" He exclaimed. "When we fought last week, she had the perfect chance to blow out my brains! I had just caught Skulker, and I was totally not paying attention to my surroundings and then I heard her guns charging up behind me.

"I turned around and there she was, holding a gun three inches from my face, and I froze up. For three whole seconds we looked at each other before I finally went invisible and ran." Danny was practically bouncing off his seat.

"So what's your point exactly?" Jazz asked, looking at him as if worried about his mental state.

"Don't you see? She hesitated! It can't be her," Danny stated knowingly.

"Maybe she was as surprised as you were to be in that situation… think about it. She has wanted to kill you ever since she set her eyes on you, and I doubt she expected to have a chance to actually kill you that day, so she it shocked her too." Jazz explained. Danny's face had turned from hopeful to crestfallen while his sister talked.

"Okay. She could be a possibility. Along with Dash and every other person in Amity Park… and maybe even the Ghost Zone too." Danny groaned.

Jazz patted his back comfortingly. "Just… stay low. If you get another warning, get out of there fast, kay?"

"I can't Jazz," he replied sadly. "I've got a job to do, and running from danger isn't one of them."

---

**DAY 3**

**Tuesday**

**April 25, 2007**

---

_CASPER PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL_

_7:54am_

"Why didn't _I_ think of that!" Sam exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. Danny had just told Sam and Tucker the topic of Jazz's and his talk last night. "It has to be Valerie!" The five-minute bell rang behind them, so Danny shut his locker and they starting moving towards their first class, Biology.

"I don't know though," Danny replied. "It doesn't really seem like her."

"What do you mean '_it doesn't seem like her'_?" Tucker asked incredulously. "Figuring out your secret and then trying to kill you totally seems like her!"

They approached the classroom door. "I know…" Danny sighed, stopping outside the door and turning around. "But what if-"

But he quickly broke off when he looked at his friend's faces, which quickly changed from excitement to terror. "Danny!" Sam hissed frantically, looking somewhere behind him, eyes open in fear.

He tensed and whirled around, holding his breath in suspense. Instead of seeing anybody, namely Valerie with guns blazing like he expected, his eyes were drawn immediately to the chalkboard.

It took up the entire board.

_**RUN, PHANTOM, IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!**_

It was written in the same red paint that was on the sidewalk.

Danny felt his heart rate increase and his breaths became shallow. He wondered when he was going to get the next warning, but he hadn't expected it so soon. "I need to go." He mumbled, and dashed off into the hall without second thought.

Sam and Tucker blinked in surprise, and then Sam took off after him, elbowing through the crowd. "Wait! Where?!"

Danny didn't respond. Sam raced after him. A large boy stepped in front of her, making her loose sight of him. "Move!" She yelled, pushing him out of the way. She wildly looked around, but he was gone.

The bell rang, and everyone filed into their classrooms, finally emptying out the hallway. Sam slowed to a walk, and then to a stop, panting.

She was alone.

She breathed in deeply, trying to expel the sudden swirl of emotions in her. Blinking rapidly and collecting herself, she finally turned and walked back to class.

---

TBC…

Here's you update! I considered cutting off the chapter after Jazz and Danny's talk, but I decided to leave you on a high-strung note instead. The warnings have gone from personal, to semi-public, to very public. Cue suspicious people! The next few chapters are going to be fun for Danny and his secret.

Review replies!!!

Lydielupid- thank you for the compliment! Haha, but yes Danny has been very lucky… but for how much longer? DUM DUM DUMMMM.

SoullessAce- Thanks! I actually planned out this fic so I could do stuff like that… and I'm trying to keep a good balance of suspense and down parts in this one, but I'm just oh so tempted to skip over these little talk scenes… I kind of wanted to be like "Jazz and Danny talked, and came up with Valerie… ON TO ACTION!" but I didn't. It was hard.

And actually laughed at "Then the city would be left interesting." HAHAHA! Thanks for pointing that out. I think I updated your revew reply last chapter too… nut shell nutshel dfj;adfdj;a

Pixie dust of doom- Ah… and therein lies the problem. We'll see how he handles this upcoming sneak attack. Danny is about to get in over his head. I'm so evil. MUHAHAHAA… and you don't even know why yet.

Hawkflyer667- You got me. I looove putting Danny in these situations, because I think he handles them so well. And I think that might be the last 'no cliffie' chapter for a while... :D

Lady Canu- You're going to have to wait two or three more chapters until you for sure figure that one out. And it might be a surprise and it might not… you never know... I can be evil.

TexasDreamer01- I can see your point… except my theory on his "halfa" status is that he's not actually half dead and half alive because that's a bit hard to conceive for me… so I think that he's still a human-- just with ghost powers. So he can still die in either form, but if he does die, he isn't automatically a ghost, because he can choose to move on or not, like everybody else. Yep… I should probably put this in my profile or something, so people know where I'm coming from.

And thanks to everybody that alerted me and faved me and stuff… because I haven't thanked you guys yet.

Click on that new little fancy review button right under this please! They updated it! So you can test it out on me if you like, I wouldn't care.

ReViEw PlEaSe!


	7. Chapter 7

_**-Previously- **_

"_I'm either fighting a powerful ghost, or my secret's in jeopardy by a human who's figured me out and has a vendetta against me."_

…

"_Have you considered Valerie?" Jazz asked. "She could have followed you here. Saw you change back."_

…

"_Wait… it can't be her! She had the perfect chance to blow out my brains and she hesitated! It's can't be her." _

…

_It took up the entire board. _

_**RUN, PHANTOM, IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!**_

"_I need to go," Danny mumbled, and dashed off into the hall without second thought. _

_Sam took off after him, elbowing through the crowd. "Where?!" _

_She wildly looked for him, but he was gone. _

_She was alone._

---

**Assassin**

---

_CASPER PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL_

_8:01am_

Danny, still invisible, turned intangible and ran through the door and into the janitor's closet. Throwing up his arms he yelled, "goin' ghost!" and with a flash of light, he became his alter ego.

Putting on his fearless mask, he flew out of the closet and past a pimply nerd who was looking between him and the janitor's closet, clearly bewildered. Ignoring him, Danny flew up through the roof of the building and popped out above the school.

He strained his eyes and looked around the establishment, trying to see every rooftop and window at once… but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Not even normal signs of life. He bit his tongue in frustration before looking back down at the school. They could have planted another bomb… they didn't care about innocents in the past.

Danny flew down, turning invisible and intangible, and went back to Biology. Once again, the first thing he saw was threat in the red paint. Their teacher, Ms. Hoff, had apparently tried to scrub it off. As Danny starting searching for a bomb, the class was murmuring.

"_Please_ focus people! I understand this unexpected message may make it hard, but we're going to do our best to ignore it and have a normal day. Okay?" Ms. Hoff demanded. Danny let himself listen as he checked inside the teacher's desk. Nothing.

"But what does it mean?" A guy named Vince asked.

Hoff started to reply. "I don't know Mr.—"

"Why would they even put a message for Phantom here?" The blond Star interrupted. "It's not like he hangs out around here, right?" Then several questions were asked at once, and the talking started again.

Danny, brushing past Sam and Tucker, looked in the wall behind them. Sam suddenly got chills, and she knew. "Danny?!" She asked, only slightly over the noise, just as Ms. Hoff snapped.

"_QUIET!_" She screeched. The class immediately hushed, but Sam continued staring at Danny as if she could see him.

Danny picked up a pencil, quickly making it invisible, and scribbled a note on Sam's notebook as Hoff continued. "I have no idea what is going on, all right!" She huffed.

_Be careful… I haven't seen anything suspicious yet, but I know something's going to happen. I just don't know when. _

It was a bit creepy watching the words appear on the paper, even though Danny could feel himself writing them. He stealthily got back to work.

"We are going to have class as scheduled, now is everybody here?" Hoff asked sounding more like an army general than a teacher. She scanned the desks as Danny checked inside the walls, ceiling and floor.

"Has anybody seen Mr. Fenton?" She asked, turning around to sit at her computer, and looking up automatically at Sam and Tucker.

They snapped to attention and automatically shook their head's no, but a guy with glasses in the front exclaimed excitedly, "Yes Ms. Hoff! I saw him outside the door before class. He ran off pretty quickly after seeing the message..."

Sam, Tucker, and an invisible Danny all grimaced, but Ms. Hoff sighed. "Must be skipping. Again."

Danny, having fully searched the room, took off through the windows and flew back to the top of the school, breathing heavily.

After inspecting the area again, he felt his anger boil. He knew something was going to happen, and it was infuriating not having the faintest idea what was going on. He couldn't even guess the basics: who, what, when or why.

He clinched his fists and grinded his teeth. He was angry… and scared, but he would never admit it.

"HERE I AM!" He roared. "COME AND GET ME!" Birds flew out of trees, squawking away. He bared his teeth, looking around as his words echoed off nearby buildings.

Nobody answered back.

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Suddenly his anger seeped out of him, leaving him feeling empty. He sunk down to the roof, and sat down on a vent. He felt more vulnerable than ever.

He didn't know what to do. Searching was pointless, and sitting on an air-vent on top of the school was also pointless.

The only thing he could think was go back to class and keep a sharp eye out. If anything was going to happen, it was going to happen there. Sighing, he realized his only plan of action was to try to see the surprise attack and stop it before it happens.

He just hoped it would be able to spot it on time.

---

_CASPER PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL_

_8:56am_

Sam was picking her next books out of her locker when she felt his presents. "Danny?" She asked, before even seeing him.

"Sorry for running off like that." He replied. She turned around to face him. He looked disheveled and jumpy.

"Are you okay? Did you catch her?" Sam asked, assuming he went after Valerie.

"No, if it was her, then it was an empty threat." Sam gave him a curious look. "I checked. She's been sitting in her seat since the beginning of class."

He turned and started to walk down the hall, and Sam shut her locker and followed. "She could have come in before school or something," she said, catching up with him.

"She could have… but we can't jump to conclusions. It still could be anyone." Danny reminded gravely.

Sam groaned in frustration, rolling her eyes skywards. "It's her Danny. I mean who else could it be? Don't think for a second that just because she liked you doesn't mean she wouldn't try to kill you." In her frustration, she forgot to whisper.

"Ms. Manson, Mr. Fenton, is everything alright?" Both teens stiffened, and turned slowly to see Mr. Lancer, standing behind them.

Sam and Danny both shared a quick panicked look. Mr. Lancer observed their reaction quietly, one eyebrow quirked.

"Oh! Hi Mr. Lancer!" Danny exclaimed, finally collecting his bearings. He plastered on a big cheesy smile. "We're perfectly okay! Why wouldn't we be?" He sent another glance over to Sam.

Mr. Lancer looked between the two teens. "If you know anything about these recent vandalisms, it's your responsibility to tell me as I'm sure you know…"

"Don't worry Mr. Lancer. If we hear one peep about it, you'll be the first to know," Sam said, a bit too cheerily, and then she quickly pulled Danny off into the small crowd that stopped at their lockers to listen. They didn't dare breath until they disappeared into their classroom.

Watching around the corner, they both exhaled when the gathering went back to normal, chatting urgently and rushing into class again.

Danny looked to the front of the class, expecting the worse, but he registered with relief that this time there was no threat. But then he tensed again. It could happen at any time.

Tucker, sitting in their regular seats in the back, looked surprised when he walked in. Danny slid into his seat just as the bell rang. As their teacher starting passing out a page of notes, and Tucker leaned over towards him. "What are you doing back? I thought you ran to safety!" He whispered urgently.

Danny shook his head. "Tuck, I can't let these people get hurt," he said, glancing around the room. "Whoever did this wants me to get out of the city, and I can't do that. I can't leave it unprotected," he whispered.

Tucker's eyebrows pulled together. "But-" he started but Danny cut him off.

"They might just want me to leave so they can wreck havoc. I can't let that happen. What if my family was home when that bomb went off? If anything's going to happen, it's going to happen here, and I have to stop it. Help me keep an eye out?"

The teacher slid their papers onto their desks, making them sit straight in their chairs, and then class started.

---

By the time the bell rang to end it, Danny was already feeling mentally exhausted. "How many more class periods?" He asked wearily.

"Two down, three to go. Four if you count lunch." Tucker replied, for once not on his PDA. He was looking suspiciously down the hall instead.

"Maybe she decided to kill you after school, and just psych you out during the day," Sam shrugged, but making sure her voice was down this time.

"My plan is just to survive until lunch. I'm taking it one class at a time." Danny replied. "Just one more period until then."

Danny pulled into the classroom first, and felt his heart drop.

"Oh no." He moaned under his breath. There, once again on the chalkboard, was another painted message.

_**DP- IGNORE THE WARNINGS, AND DIE**_

Danny dully noted that their math teacher, Mr. Nash, was a lot more freaked out about the message than Ms. Hoff was. He was a small, nervous little man, and the painted warning just about did him in. He was mumbling nervously to himself as Danny and Sam passed to get to their seats.

"I heard about Hoff, but that could have happened anytime last night! But this is new! I left the room for only a second! This town will be the end of me, I swear it!"

Nash took a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his forehead, his hands shaking. Then he turned to the class. "I'm sorry for this kids, and I'm going to ask you not to panic about the message… p-probably just some vandal. Excuse me for a minuet, but I need to make a call to the p-p-principal."

Now that Danny was a part of the class, he could hear the murmuring better, and something caught his attention from a few seat up. "DP? Remember that Suzie? That was also on the sidewalk yesterday! Just before that explosion!"

"Oh yeah! Right by Fenton's place! I heard some of their wacko ghost weapons exploded from Shawn. Did you know Shawn's dad is a fire fighter?"

"No! Don't you see it? DP means Danny Phantom!"

"Ohmigosh! You're right! Maybe Phantom was by the Fenton's and he triggered their weapons to go off!"

"Maybe…"

Danny groaned quietly.

Then Mr. Nash hung up the phone. Just then the intercom system came to life with a beep. "Hello students. This is your principal with an important announcement. The school's threat level has been lifted from green to orange." Danny grimaced, and looked over to Sam and Tucker. They had faces similar to his own.

"In the event of an emergency, I will warn the school via intercom, and teachers will lock the classroom doors against outside intruders and students get away from the windows and doors.

"It is very important to follow instructions and to not panic if a situation arises. Police will come to each door to tell you it is safe, but until then do not open the doors.

"If it is a ghost attack, someone will pull the ghost alarm and I expect you all to evacuate the building calmly. I will keep you posted, but for now continue classes as usual. Thank you." Then the intercom clicked off.

There was a moment of heavy silence as the message sunk in. Mr. Nash cleared his throat. "Ahem. Well…" he attempted a smile, "she said continue classes as usual so…"

And with that class started. Danny, Sam, and Tucker kept a sharp eye out for anything suspicious.

Danny looked back up to the board. The words sparkle down at him, the paint still wet. Whoever was leaving the warnings was watching him, and they didn't set off his ghost sense. The fact turned itself over and over in his mind. He looked around the room suspiciously, but nobody looked out of the ordinary. Did that for sure cancel the idea that it was a ghost that was behind this? Who knew his secret?

Well, whoever it was knew he hadn't left yet. Danny sat in his seat straighter. He wasn't going to run away like a coward, like the warnings told him. This was his city, and it was his job to protect it. He told himself this, meanwhile wrestling with the fear that coursed through his body.

Danny looked around the place for a bomb. He held his powers at bay, just under the surface. If anything exploded, he was ready to put up a shield around it.

About halfway through the class, a bird flew by the window, and Danny nearly fell off his chair. He took a deep breath, and tried to slow down his heart rate.

With the way things were going, there wouldn't even have to be a murder attempt. He figured his heart was going to give out by the end of the day anyways.

---

TBC…

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's been a crazy few weeks. Plus my computer screen is broken, so whenever I even think about moving it, it goes blurry and negative. So I have to apply pressure to the left side of it and slowly let it go. In it's worst it can take a half hour of just holding it to fix it. DLKJFAL;DFJSAKDS.

Review replies!

Lady Canu- We will know soon… I still need to type it though… so maybe not soon, but sometime close, which is hopefully soon. Heh… o.o;;

yaoiFan080- It's going to be fun, that's for sure. That's all I'll give for hints. Thanks for the review!

SoullessAce- HAHA! Actually I got that from the Harry Potter books. I think Harry says that a lot, and I kind of like it. Yes. Those or maybe Valerie is just overwhelmed by hate to the point where she might endanger other people? You never know with me. And I rather like the word crestfallen. I don't think I got those from the HP books. BAH! I haven't even corrected psychologist yet! *quickly scuttles off*

Pixie dust of doom- Oh yay! I love it when people appreciate good cliffhangers. And nobody knows why the ecto-guns were up in his room. Maybe it was a ghost who planted them there! But they wouldn't suspect Danny, which is good enough for him I think. And yes, they are all very much grasping at straws. Everybody believes it could be this or that, but nobody thinks the other is right… if that makes any sense at all. Haha… I can see it now.

--"Suddenly a blimp floats into view over the school. In large painted letters are the words, 'DANNY FENTON IS DANNY PHANTOM'. Everyone looked at each other, wondering what it could mean." --

hawkflyer667- that's pretty much my point. Danny in perilous situation with secret in jeopardy? Now that's my kind of story.

Danny Phangirl- Ooo! Death threat. Very nice. That's my first one for this story. Haha. Sorry for not updating for so long.

Belthasar- Especially because the Senator thinks Phantom should be exterminated, along with all of the other ghosts… but you never know with Valerie either… she has more motive than everybody else put together.

Lydielupin- Yep. That's why Danny and co. are so freaked out. They are normally on top of these things too… Dannnnng. What musical? We are doing Once Upon a Mattress, but we just started rehearsals.

Jadephantom- Humm… I'm not quite sure what you are saying. Are you saying that Valerie hesitated because she knew he was Danny Fenton –then-, or are you saying once she followed him back and –then- she realized he was Danny Fenton and got mad? Haha… it's a weekend. My brain isn't working properly.

AHHHH NEXT WEEKEND ARE EXAM CRAM TIME! So I might not be updating… or maybe I will because I tend to be more creative with the more work I have to do.

Review please!


	8. Chapter 8

_**-Previously-**_

"_I'm either fighting a powerful ghost, or my secret's in jeopardy by a human who's figured me out and has a vendetta against me."_

…

"_Have you considered Valerie?" _

...

_**DP- IGNORE THE WARNINGS, AND DIE**_

…

_He wasn't going to run away like a coward, like the warnings told him. This was his city, and it was his job to protect it._

---

**Assassin **

---

_CASPER PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL_

_11:02 am  
_

Danny thought that lunch might bring him some salvation, but as soon as he entered the cafeteria, he realized he was wrong.

First of all, he noticed people were looking at him weird, or maybe it was just his paranoia. Secondly, if someone attacked now, it would take half of the school population with it.

Tucker was still optimistic… or maybe worried about his friend having a panic attack. "You never know… this time might be a dud." He said, trying to comfort Danny.

"It might…" Danny murmured. "I'm personally getting kinda sick of all this…"

"Hey FenTURD!" A familiar voice screeched behind them. Danny groaned. "I was sick yesterday, so I didn't get to wail on you!"

Danny was picked up by the scruff of his shirt and dragged out of the cafeteria, but before he was out of sight, he sent Sam and Tucker a look that clearly said, "look out for me!" Then he was around the corner.

"Poor guy. Never gets a break." Tucker sighed, shaking his head.

With a rough shove, Danny was pushed against the lockers. A few others, looking for fun by watching a "wimp" get pushed around, surrounded Dash.

"I heard about your close call after that speech… it was all over the news" Dash sneered. "Too bad they missed. It might have put you back in your place. You don't scream like the others…"

"Can we skip today? I'm really not in the mood Dash," Danny replied dully. "I'm having a bad day."

"You think you have any control over this?!" Dash snarled, shoving him into the lockers again. Danny yelped as he smacked his head against them, making him see stars for a few seconds.

"Leave him alone Dash," said a quiet voice behind them. Dash let go of Danny and turned around, allowing him to crane his neck to see who was standing up for him.

To his surprise, Valerie stood there, glaring up at Dash. "He's had a tough week."

"What makes you think you can stop me?" Dash sang, mimicking laughter in his voice.

"Ninth degree black belt, if it comes to that," Valerie smiled, "but I wouldn't want it to if I were you." The smirk was wiped right off Dash's face.

"Well- I… I was done anyways," he said, crossing his arms. He turned to his spectators. "C'mon guys... let's go." They murmured darkly they left, leaving a shocked Danny and a smug Valerie left.

She turned to him. "Are you okay?"

Danny looked over her suspiciously. "Fine. Why are you helping me?" He asked, successfully keeping the accusing tone out of his voice. In his mind he added, _'so you can finish me off later?'_

"Because I just heard what happened over the weekend. You've had a rough week. First being shot at, and then your house spontaneously combusting? Man, if I were you, I would be in bed under the covers," she replied smiling.

Danny felt his silent accusation waver. "Trust me, I can still hear it calling me." He replied wearily. Valerie laughed. "Oh, and the rumors got it wrong. My house didn't spontaneously combust… a whole bunch of mom and dad's weapons went berserk."

This seemed to somber her up. "Yeah… but do you believe that?"

Danny tensed. "What?"

"What if someone made them go berserk?" Valerie asked seriously. He opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off. "Danny, I don't know what's going on, but I think you're in danger," she nearly whispered.

Danny would have dearly liked to say 'Yah think?' but instead he kept his mouth closed. Taking a deep breath he replied, "Val- I'm sure it's nothing. I'll be fine."

She shook her head. "I'm kind of experienced in these situations. I know what I'm seeing… something is definitely fishy. What I'm trying to say is I can help protect you." Her voice was now even quieter, and she kept glancing down the hall nervously, making sure it was empty.

"Protect me?" Danny's head was spinning. Was she about to reveal her secret or something? "I'm really fine Valerie. I don't need to be-"

"I don't care about your excuses. I'm never going to forgive myself if someone winds up getting the job done," Danny looked into her eyes, and it looked like she was physically hurting over this. He immediately felt guilty. He let her go on.

She took a calming breath. "Let's just say I have some connections. I can have the Red Huntress watching your back." She looked nervous, and Danny understood only too well. It was risky telling him this. What if he made the connection?

He didn't know what to say. He licked his lips. "I- wow, the Red Huntress? … That's- uh- I mean I really appreciate the offer… but I really am okay. I swear. I've got the famous ghost-hunting duo for parents. If there is really anyone after me, I'm sure they'll be the first to know."

Valerie didn't interrupt, so he continued. "Plus why would anyone be after me in the first place? I'm just plain old Danny Fenton. Nothing special about me right?" He laughed nervously.

Valerie swallowed. "Just… be careful alright?"

"Oh yeah- for sure. You know me." Danny tried for an award-winning smile, which must have worked because Valerie slowly started to smile back at him.

"Fine." She gave up, starting to walk back to the cafeteria, "But don't be surprised if you see the Red Huntress hanging around."

Danny realized this was as close he was going to get to a victory as Valerie would allow. "I'll be sure to say hi," then he darted back to Tucker and Sam.

That's when he noticed their expressions. Tucker looked like he had just wrestled a world champion fighter, and Sam looked ticked, but the kind of ticked that she wore when she wanted to hide her worry.

When they saw him, they both nearly jumped him. "What's going on?" Tucker asked.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked. "We saw Valerie follow you and Dash to the hall!"

"I nearly had to sedate her so she didn't follow you in there," Tucker wheezed.

Danny put up his hands in peace. "Guys, I'm fine. She's not our mystery man." Sam actually looked a little crestfallen. "Actually she came to offer me protection." Danny went on.

"What?!" They both exclaimed.

"She thinks someone's after me," Danny explained.

"Well… she's right about that," Sam muttered, looking around the cafeteria for anything out of order.

---

As the lunch bell rang, it brought an eerie silence over the trio's table.

"So what are the warnings so far?" Tucker asked darkly.

"'Today Phantom will fall' was two days ago, yesterday was 'DP, beware', and today was 'Run, Phantom, if you know what's good for you', and 'DP- ignore the warnings, and die'," Danny quickly recited off, the messages already having been burned into his brain.

Sam didn't say anything.

"Well- on the bright side, I don't think that the warning giver is the same person as the attempting murder person." Tucker said, a new light in his eyes.

Danny and Sam looked at him. Tucker continued, "The warnings are starting to sound more and more frantic. At first it they were kind of like death threats, but now they sound like they really want you to get away."

Sam face changed from white to pondering. "I can see what you mean…" she agreed. Danny noticed with a pang that instead of beaming with pride at getting something right, like Tucker would normally do, he just nodded gravely. Sam continued.

"Why would mystery man- or woman- give you this many threats before attacking? It kind of ruins the surprise factor, which any semi-good fighter would never waste." Most of the people had left the cafeteria, so Sam, Danny, and Tucker collected their things and left as well.

"Well, depends on if it's a ghost or a human. A ghost would have a reason to want me to leave- so they can take over town, but a human… humm," Danny thought for a moment, "maybe mystery man-" a pointed look from Sam, "-or woman thinks I'm such a freak that they don't want me in town…?" Even Danny thought it sounded a bit far-fetched.

"Or maybe it's two different people." Tucker said again. They turned down to the main hallway.

"Or maybe it's a ghost. How could two different people know my secret?" Danny asked incredulously.

"The same way one could figure out. Maybe it was Dash _and_ Kwan that walked down that ally…" Sam trailed off.

"It's not Dash," Danny shot down, "he said he was sick yesterday."

"But does he have an alibi?"

"Oh come on!" Danny rolled his eyes. That's when they realized there was a large crowd, gathered around a group of lockers.

"Fight?" Tucker squeaked in a hopeful tone, but with the look Sam and Danny gave him, he knew they were all thinking the same thing. After their second of silent communication, they all jumped into the crowd.

Mr. Lancer was heard over the murmuring voices. "Move it people! Make way! I'm a teacher!" Danny, Sam, and Tucker finally made it to the front of the crowd at the same time Mr. Lancer did.

"_Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_!" Mr. Lancer cried, and somewhere in the back of Danny's mind, he agreed.

Sprawled messily on the lockers in the familiar red paint, was what looked like the final warning. It was short and to the point.

_**THEN DIE DANNY PHANTOM!**_

Danny felt goose bumps breakout across his arms. He swallowed, and knew that whatever was going to happen was going to happen soon.

As soon as Mr. Lancer regained his composure, he started ushering people back to class, but had little success. Finally the bell rang, and it seemed to reawaken the students and they all scrambled off to class. Danny, Sam and Tucker were shoved off with everyone else to English.

The hairs on the back of Danny neck stood on end, and he whirled around. Everything looked normal, but he was sure he felt someone watching him.

---

TBC…

Don't kill me… but for some reason I thought I already posted this chapter, so I was frantically writing the next one. I rewrote it three times before I actually looked at what I've already posted up.

So here's the update. I will reply to all of the next chapter's reviews, but I'm too tired to do it this chapter… sorry. It's been crazy.

So here's a shout out tooo…..

**Jadephantom, yaoiFan080, hawkflyer667, cartoon-crazy987, E-Dantes, lydielupin, Yugisrose, SoullessAce, Shadow Moss, TexasDreamer01 **

Thanks guys!

I promise to update the next chapter soon!


	9. Chapter 9

_**-Previously-**_

"_I know what I'm seeing… something is definitely fishy. What I'm trying to say is I can help protect you… Let's just say I have some connections. I can have the Red Huntress watching your back"_

…

"_Well- on the bright side, I don't think that the warning giver is the same person as the attempting murder person."_

…

_**THEN DIE DANNY PHANTOM!**_

…

_Danny felt goose bumps breakout across his arms. He swallowed, and knew that whatever was going to happen was going to happen soon._

---

**Assassin **

---

_CASPER PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL_

_11:51 am_

Just by what he heard in the hall, Danny was starting to fear his secret was going to be totally blown by the end of the day. With every nerve frayed, Danny slipped into his seat, his senses heightened.

He absent mindedly eavesdropped.

"You know… I'm a really big fan of Phantom, but I've never realized his first name." The jock sitting next to him said to his buddy in front of him.

"I know… 'Danny'. That's such a normal- human name… you know what I mean?"

"Yeah totally. Totally man. But then again, he's like around our age right? He had to have died recently then. Danny's pretty common."

"I don't know any guys that have died though… maybe he's not from around here."

Another group of girls behind him said, "Oh- speaking of Danny's- did you hear about Fenton's house blowing up?"

"Yeah! Just after those bullets nearly got him at the Senators speech!"

"Chyah! I almost forgot about that! _So _weird." He could practically feel their eyes burning into the back of his skull.

From somewhere off to his far right, "have you guys heard about Manson's blowout at him in the hall? She thinks someone's after him!"

"Then there's all these weird threats going on…"

"Do you think he's in danger?"

"Who… Danny or… I mean, Fenton or Phantom?"

"Well… I was talking about Fenton, but I guess both, really. It a funny coincidence they have the same name, isn't it?"

Then to the nerds, sitting towards the front.

"I do not think that 'die' is the correct terminology for a ghost," said a short one Danny vaguely recognized. 'Obliterated' would be the correct word in this case."

"But do you think that the ghost has even the slightest chance of obliterating him?" Nathan asked.

"Probably not," the short one shrugged, "First of all, this ghost has no nerve to show his face, which is the universal sign of cowardice and weakness. Secondly, Phantom has no reason to hang around school. I doubt these threats are even meant for him. Probably some sort of senior prank."

"But I saw him!" A tall, pimply one said. With a jolt Danny realized he _did_ see him this morning. "As I was running to history this morning, I passed janitors closet, and all of the sudden I heard someone yell, 'goin' ghost' and there was a bright flash of light! Then he just came flying out!" Danny slowly lowered his head until it hit his desk with a soft 'thunk!'

"No way Mark. I bet this is just another one of your stories," he heard Nathan say in his nasally voice, but his eyes were wide open with interest.

"It's true! He actually stopped and looked at me for a second! It was amazing! He _looked_ at me!"

"What did he say?!" The short one asked, practically falling out of his seat.

"I- I… well he didn't say anything," Mark admitted. The rest groaned and sat back in their seats, losing interest, but Mark seemed determined to get their attention back. "But one thing I noticed was that he looked scared."

"Scared?" Nathan asked skeptically.

"I swear it! I'll never forget it, because I've never seen him look that way before." He bit his lip. "So he knows about the threats, and apparently, he's still hanging around."

They all started looking around as if he would magically appear in front of them.

Sam tossed him a note. Danny lifted his head off of his desk with a small groan.

_With all these rumors about you and Phantom floating around, I would have guessed __someone__ might have made the connection by now…_

_I think I'm starting to lose faith in the human race._

Danny quickly scribbled a reply and slid it back to her.

**Don't lose all faith. Once a lightening bolt comes out of the heavens to zap me someone will ****have**** come to that conclusion. **

Tucker grabbed the note from her quickly and read it. He just snorted, and flicked it back. Then Mr. Lancer finally came in to start class, looking a bit disoriented.

To Danny's surprise, Lancer didn't say one thing about the threat. After taking a quick attendance he dove straight into a lecture with a, "Where did we leave off last time… page thirty-one of Faulkner I believe… yes."

Danny had actually been able to do their reading. Normally he was so swamped with ghost attacks that he didn't even have time to dream about doing homework, but for the past two days all of the attacks suddenly came to a dead halt.

Danny furrowed his eyebrows, scanning the buildings outside the window next to him. With all of the threats, he barely even noticed the lack of ghosts. It wasn't normal for them to run off with no reason. He bit his lip. The only other time ghosts had fled into hiding was when the Ghost King came back… but they all hid in the human world.

He let his mind swim through the possibilities. Maybe something in the human world was scaring them enough to hide in the Ghost Zone… Even though Danny wished it, he felt sure that it wasn't him that finally got to them. And it couldn't be anything at all like the Ghost King, right? If it were, then the ghost would have already taken over.

Then a thought struck him. What if there really was a ghost they were all scared of… and that ghost was after him? But his ghost sense hadn't gone off! But his brain quickly retaliated.

All of the attacks on him had been long-range. The ghost could be god knows how far away. But far enough away to not trigger his ghost sense? That would be an almost impossible distance to shoot from. But what if he was good enough to attack from that far away? Pinpoint accuracy. That would scare any of the ghosts he fought on a daily bases.

Danny looked back at his desk. He had gotten lucky to get this spot. Close to the back and right next to the window. He considered getting close to the door, but that would mean he would have to be in the front. Now he was wishing he had gotten a spot a little further away from the windows.

But was the messenger a ghost? He didn't understand how he or she could have gotten past his ghost sense the day of Peterson's speech. It came from above him, and landed in his lap. It had to be a human. If it was a ghost messenger, they couldn't be in the school without setting off his ghost sense, yet they managed to get a freshly painted warning on the lockers and on Mr. Nash's chalkboard.

Suddenly a sharp voice startled him out of his musings. "_Mr. Fenton_!" On instinct, Danny pulled at his powers, and was getting ready to put up a defensive shield when he realized it was only his teacher. With a tug of mental reins, he forced himself to stop. If his hands started glowing green, someone would defiantly figure it out.

"I will not have you zoning out the window only ten minutes into class," Lancer stated.

"I wasn't zoning! It's how I pay attention!" Danny defended, glancing out the windows again.

Mr. Lancer crossed his arms and tapped his foot. "Then what did I just say?"

"I will not have you zoning out the window only ten minutes into…" Danny trailed off, seeing his teachers face. The class chuckled. Danny sighed, caught red handed. "I don't know… I wasn't paying _that_ much attention." Lancer's eyes narrowed, and it was awarded another few laughs.

It was just one of those days.

Mr. Lancer audibly grinded his teeth together, and finally said, "we'll talk after—"

And that's when things went spinning out of control.

With a horrible sound, fire seemed to explode the windows in. Screams ripped through the room. The rows closest to the windows were knocked out of their seats from the small explosion. Danny scrambled backwards, looking at the jagged pieces of glass that used to be the windows, disoriented. It had happened so fast. His eyes wildly searched the skies, hoping to see the culprit.

Mr. Lancer, having been knocked down, scrambled to his feet, holding his head. There was a moment of shocked silence. "EVERYBODY TO THE DOOR, _NOW_!" Lancer yelled. Several girls ran screaming to the doors.

Danny was breathing heavily. Was that the attack that had been threatened? Were there more bombs somewhere? What surprised him the most was that the attack _missed_. Nothing else was happening. Did his attacker use the wrong type of bombs or something? All those did was knock out the glass on the windows. They weren't enough to kill anybody.

The next thing he knew, he was being dragged to his feet. He looked behind him to see a very pale Sam. He saw that while he was thinking, everybody else had bolted for the door, which was having a bad bottleneck effect.

Danny took a step towards the door, but gasped and fell into Sam, who quickly supported him. He couldn't put weight on his left leg. He looked down and for the first time noticed the nasty gash just below his knee. Before he didn't even know the glass had got him. Sam dragged him, stumbling their way to the jammed door.

Another bang echoed outside, quieter than the first. Danny's voice was lost in the fresh screams. A stabbing pain seared though his back. Eyebrows furrowed in slight pain and confusion, he reached back and plucked something out of his shoulder. He didn't have time to think much about it.

He suddenly felt the world turn on its axis. He started seeing double, and pain was making it flash white. It felt like his back was on fire.

He barely noticed his ghost sense going off.

"Sam!" He gasped, and then he completely collapsed against her.

Sam nearly fell with the sudden extra weight. She steadied herself, and then, seeing Danny's eyes screwed shut in pain, cried, "_Danny_!"

From that point on, all Danny could remember was fire. He realized he was slowly burning to death.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't go unconscious. He knew he probably wouldn't wake up if he did. Through his blinding agony, he could sense that Sam and Tucker were trying to help him. What was going on? Someone else was helping too, and he tried to not scream.

His felt his mind getting darker and darker. He wasn't even able to think coherently now. The tunnel was getting blacker around him, and even though he struggled against it, it was enveloping him.

It finally came to him. He was dying.

So the killer had somehow gotten him after all. This was going to be the great Danny Phantom's end… writhing on the floor of a destroyed classroom, with his best friends trying in vain to help him.

His last thoughts were fast and barely distinguishable. He wondered if Jazz would tell their parents his secret. He wondered if the world would know what happened, or if his ghost side would just fade mysteriously into history. Then he thought of Sam… but at this point it wasn't really a thought at all… just an emotion, and he realized that he didn't want to die.

With a mental cry of dismay, there was a wave of cold, and then he knew no more.

---

TBC…

Okay, like I said last chapter, I retyped this scene 3 times. Well… actually 4 now. First time was just weird… second time was weird and a little too violent… and third time I actually decided to use it, and then the fourth time I decided I should actually move it all down and do flashbacks and only have Danny's PoV for this chapter. So I'm just brilliant, aren't my? Not.

Review replies!

yaoiFan080- Another serving of mystery coming right up!!! *ding ding* … I'm not quite sure what that was. I was thinking like I was a waitress or something… never mind. Here's the chapter.

Hawkflyer667- Petrified cat? You just guessed the next chapter. Haha kidding… or am I?

Lady Canu- After this Danny and his gang actually start finding clues, so we are getting close to figuring out whom the "assassin" is.

XSuperXStarX- Well… now you know that "he/she" (haha) does mean it! Hooray!

E-Dantes- Here's your daily quota of action! And we'll figure out who the "guy" is in the next couple of chapters here.

Liz- Gracias! Here is your update!

SoullessAce- Oh I have too much nerve for my own good. But at least all of the action came in this chapter, right? And plus we actually get to see what happened in the next chapter, from Sam's and Tucker's PoV! … but I don't think I have any cool exclamations of Harry Potter in the next chapter. :(

Cartoon-crazy987- Ahhh! Don't cry! I'm not –that- amazing! *strikes a heroic pose* … ahem. But after this chapter, I think I might have people thinking the opposite of that for this evil cliffie… thanks for the review!

Yugisrose- Well… this chapter is kind of short too… heh… o.o;; you see, my goal is to find a good cut off place between 6 and 8 pages… and lately, they've all been arriving on the sixth page. And Harry Potter is amazing.

Lydielupin- That's a good point. I should probably put that on the bottom of the chapter! I will. I actually love writing Dash… because I love to think of his reaction that one fateful day when Danny finally reveals his secret… *sighs* Oh. Woops, sorry. I hurt Danny. :D

TexasDreamer01- I'm typing as fast as I can! … well, I'm might be working on another story that's not posted yet… but other than that… (haha)

Okay. That's all for now. And don't kill me for the evil cliffie, because if you do, then who will finish the story? *scampers away*

Review!


	10. Chapter 10

_**-Previously-**_

_His felt his mind getting darker and darker. He wasn't even able to think coherently now. The tunnel was getting blacker around him, and even though he struggled against it, it was enveloping him. _

_It finally came to him. He was dying. _

…

_His last thoughts were fast and barely distinguishable. He wondered if Jazz would tell their parents his secret. He wondered if the world would know what happened, or if his ghost side would just fade mysteriously into history. Then he thought of Sam… but at this point it wasn't really a thought at all… just an emotion, and he realized that he didn't want to die. _

_With a mental cry of dismay, there was a wave of cold, and then he knew no more. _

---

**Assassin **

---

**DAY 4**

**Wednesday**

**April 26, 2007**

---

AMITY HOSPITAL

12:39 pm

The first thing Danny felt when he awoke was an intense tingling. It was like dulled flames, licking his insides and making them ache. As he woke up more, it got sharper and sharper. He hissed in pain. "Danny?" A familiar voice asked hopefully.

He moaned, refusing to open his eyes. He didn't want to wake up, if it meant it he was going to be living in agony. He let himself slip back into his dulled state, and slowly he sank back into oblivion.

---

5:54 pm

---

The second time was better. When he started to come to, he felt only the pricking of pain… not the intense heat like before. He sighed heavily and cracked one eye open. He saw an angel peering back. He looked again as his eyes adjusted to the light behind her. It wasn't an angel at all… but it was just the person he wanted to see.

"Sam," he croaked, his voice rusty from the ordeal.

She smiled. "Welcome back to the land of the living," she replied quietly.

He blinked rapidly, waking himself up, and became more aware of the uncomfortable tingling. He tried to sit up, but it was as if lightening forked through his body. He collapsed back on to his pillow and grinded his teeth together. The strange prickling had turned hot again.

"Yeah, the doctor said that you wouldn't be able to move around with out that happening for a few weeks," his sister said, from her seat beside him, looking sympathetic. Tucker was leaning against the wall by the window, his arms crossed, and for the first time in a while, no PDA in hand.

"What happened? I just remember the windows exploding in… the rest is kind of a haze," Danny asked, rubbing his forehead, willing himself to remember more clearly.

Sam winced at the memory.

_The smoke from the explosions finally set off the fire alarms, sending even more chaos out into the halls. She couldn't hold Danny without help. "TUCKER!" She yelled over the babbling voices and alarm, as his back arched in her arms. Something was wrong. _

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, I think your parents are coming back with lunch," Sam said, and looked at the door that opened quietly.

As soon as they saw their son awake, they nearly dropped their trays. "Danny!" They both cried and threw their trays onto a chair, and ran to his bedside. His mother gave him a gentle hug, and his father grabbed his hand.

"How are you feeling?" His mom asked as she pulled away.

"Okay, when I don't move around too much," he replied. Sam had left his side, and was stationed next to Tucker at the window, and finally Danny realized what they were doing. They were on the lookout.

"Oh sweetie!" His mom exclaimed, "who would want to do this to you!?"

"I don't know," Danny said, turning from his friend's grim faces to his moms. "What happened? Why am I here?"

"You were poisoned somehow," Tucker said before Sam could say anything. "Police are investigating the lunch food."

"The _lunch _food? What about the explosions?" Danny asked exasperated.

"Well… they're investigating those too. Nobody was badly hurt, except for you." Danny hid a groan. If nobody had made a connection between him and his alter ego by now, he would eat his shirt.

"We think they were after Phantom, and your class just got caught in the middle of it," his father said, shrugging. Danny, Sam, and Tucker all looked at each other meaningfully.

"They say if it wasn't for Sam's quick thinking, you probably wouldn't have made it," his mother said, quietly.

Danny looked over at Sam, who refused to meet his gaze. Her mind kept playing the scene over and over in her eyes.

_The room was nearly cleared out now, with the last few exiting through the door. Tucker looked back and saw her predicament. "WE NEED TO GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" She lowered him to the ground, panting._

_Tucker ran over to help her, just as Lancer stuck his head back into the door. "__Scarlet Letter__! Would you—" but he stopped when he saw Danny. _

"_Tuck! He's burning up!" Sam exclaimed, felling his cheek, then his forehead. Danny cried out in pain. Mr. Lancer was at their side in seconds. _

"_Help me carry Mr. Fenton to the hall! We need to get out of the room! There could be more explosions!" Mr. Lancer ordered, picking up his legs. Sam quickly looped her arms under his, and they lifted him up. _

Sam quickly blocked it out, "it was no big deal," she said, shrugging, but still not meeting his eyes. Danny knew Sam too well to press on. He knew that whatever happened scared her, and he didn't want her to get upset.

"So have they found anything?" Danny asked, pushing the subject away from himself. "Have they been able to trace the remains of the bombs from the windows?"

Tucker shook his head. "They've either been completely disintegrated, or someone cleaned up the leftovers before the police got there."

Danny exhaled heavily. "And nobody's found out any clues to who might have poisoned me?" He asked, glancing at his parents worriedly.

His parents shook their head sadly, but Danny noticed that Sam, Tucker, and Jazz didn't move. He looked over at them, and they quickly shared a brief moment of silent communication.

"Alright. Well, I guess the police will find something sooner or later," he said, staring at his two friends.

For the next few minutes, Danny's parents filled him in on the day he missed. He slept for nearly thirty hours, which was a fact Danny couldn't believe, considering he was already tired again. His body was putting up a hard fight against whatever it was in his system.

Danny yawned tiredly, and his mom didn't miss it. "Oh honey, do you want us to leave so you can sleep?" She asked in a voice only mothers can pull off.

"No… no I'm not that tired. I can deal with it," he replied quickly.

"I'm so sorry Danny… we've been searching for a antidote frantically, but the doctors haven't been able to find one because they don't know what it was that attacked your system like that." His mother stated, patting his hand. Danny looked confused.

"So I haven't been cured? How am I awake?" Danny asked, trying to grasp this new piece of information.

"We're not actually sure… your nervous system was somehow able to subdue it. All we know about what's in you is that it's making you overheat… but it doesn't show any signs of being in your system or your bloodstream," his mom replied.

"So…" Danny said slowly, "the poison is still inme?" He recapped.

"Yep," Tucker said from the window.

"Great," Danny said sarcastically.

"But the friendly doctor said it looks like it's wearing off!" His father exclaimed cheerily. "The only down side is that they are going to need to keep you in the hospital for a few more days… you know… just to make sure you don't have a relapse or something."

Finally the nurse came in to check his vitals, and asked him how he was feeling. She then told his parents that he probably was tired, and they should think about letting him rest soon. Then she left again.

"We should probably get going…" his mother said sadly, wringing her hands. "But if you feel like you need us at all, just call the nurse, and we'll be over in a flash, okay?"

"Alright mom… don't worry, I'll be fine." Danny said, making sure not to roll his eyes. He didn't want to take their concern for them lightly. He knew that whatever happened scared them.

After his mom, dad, and sister gave him a gentle hug, he asked, "Actually, can I talk to Sam and Tuck privately?"

His mother gave him a slightly confused look. "Sure, honey, whatever you want," and she ushered Jack and Jazz out of the room.

Once the door closed, Danny looked back at Sam and Tucker. "Okay, what _really _happened?" Tucker swallowed, and reached into his pocket, taking out a small object. Danny reached for it, and Tucker dropped it into his hand. "Where did you find this?"

Tucker told him.

_Tucker tried to help pick Danny up, but he saw he wasn't needed, and trailed behind. Danny's fist slackened, and Tucker heard a small 'plink!' of metal hitting tile. He wouldn't have even noticed if he didn't see something falling out of the corner of his eye. He looked down and saw the dart that Danny had dropped. He crouched down to pick it up. _

_Suddenly he shivered violently, and instinctively snapped his head up to the wall of broken windows. He thought he saw a dark figure for a second, before it melted into the air. Tucker quickly realized he was the only one left in the room, and hurriedly stuffed the thing into his pocket, thinking it might be useful later. Then he sprinted out into the mess of students, still filing into the hallway. _

Danny looked at the small white dart he held in his hands. He twisted it around until he came upon the green skull and crossbones. "This fell out of my hand?"

"Yep," Tucker stated. "We think that mystery man blew out the windows so he could get a clear shot."

"What happened? Can you guys actually tell me now? I hate being left in the dark. Like I said… I can only remember the windows being blown out… I thought I had caught on fire somehow… but now I think it was just the poison. I think I remember lockers…?"

Sam sighed, and said, "Well… after the windows blew out, your knee got cut…"

"Oh yeah… I remember that part…" Danny said, tilting his head to the side, thinking.

"And then you just sort of… collapsed. Mr. Lancer actually came in to help me get you out. That's when Tucker found the dart." Danny nodded, looking down at his sheets blankly, trying to remember.

Sam pressed on.

_Danny started writhing in Sam and Lancers hands they got out into the hallway, making them nearly drop him. They lowered him down next to some lockers as he started to gasp and sputter. Sweat trickled down his face. _

"_HE'S PRACTICALLY ON FIRE! WE HAVE TO COOL HIM OFF SOMEHOW!" Sam shouted over the echoing voices and alarm. She wished she had more than just amateur medical training. She looked around wildly, as if hoping an answer would fall out of the sky, and Mr. Lancer was doing the same. Danny yelled out in pain, but then seemed to bite it back. She could tell he was on his last legs. _

_Tucker approached the scene, dart in his pocket, and saw Sam and Lancer looking confused. "SAM! IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING, HE'S GOING TO _DIE_!" He screamed, bending down and feeling his forehead. "HE'S BEEN POISENED! HIS BRAIN IS GONNA OVERHEAT!" _

_Sam seemed to be on the brink of hysterics. Danny screamed again. Tucker was the only one that seemed to be able to move. He took off his hat and started fanning Danny with it wildly. _

_Sam's eyes lit up, "GET HIM TO CHEMISTRY!" She cried, picking him up under the arms again, and dragging him across the hallway. Tucker and Lancer didn't seem to make the connection. "THE EMERGENCY SHOWER!" Sam supplied. _

_The next minute Sam and Tucker dragged him into the empty room and towards the corner with the emergency shower. As soon as she could reach it, Sam pulled the metal lever, and cool water poured from the big plastic yellow showerhead, dousing Danny and herself. _

_Sitting herself under the shower, she supported her friend's head in her lap, placing a hand on forehead and brushing back his wet bangs that were plastered over his eyes. _

"_He's still burning up!" She said to them, worriedly. Danny's jaw was locked tight, and Sam could feel his muscles tense over her legs. He was doing his best not to show his agony. _

_Then, with a few throaty gasps, he suddenly fell limp. Sam looked up at her teacher and Tucker, her eyes wide. None of them said anything, but they all shared the same thought. '_Were we too late'_? _

"_Mr. Foley," Lancer said calmly, "go get an ambulance." Tucker licked his lips, and slowly nodded. Then he turned on his heal, and ran out of the room. _

_Mr. Lancer between his two pupils. "Now I need to know what happened." _

_Sam shook her head, shivering. She wasn't sure if it was because of the shower. "I don't know. I was helping him out of the room, because of his hurt leg, and then he… just sort of collapsed." She significantly left out that he was being threatened all day. _

_Mr. Lancer nodded, his face paper white. He pulled up of the empty desks and sat down on it slowly. He rubbed his face, and then massaging his temples, he looked back down at Sam. She kept brushing Danny's hair out of his face gently._

_Sam didn't know this, but that's when Mr. Lancer first thought of a connection between Danny and Phantom. He wasn't sure how, but he knew that Danny lying on the floor of the emergency shower was not just a coincidence with the warnings for Phantom sprawled all over the school. _

_While Mr. Lancer was trying to come up with connections, Sam looked back down at her friend's limp body, letting her wet hair cover her face. She watched as the water dripped slowly from her black strands of hair and fell onto his face, and tried to stay calm for Danny's sake. _

Of course, Sam didn't tell her entire memory. She just nonchalantly said, "You started burning up… so we dragged you to the emergency shower."

Danny nodded. He saw Tucker looking nervously out the window again. "There hasn't been anymore threats, has there?" He asked warily.

"No… but you never can be too careful man," Tucker replied.

"This dart…" Danny started, thinking. "It's kind of familiar…" he bit his lip in thought.

"I've never seen it before," Sam stated, not helping him out at all.

"Where have I seen this…?" he mumbled.

"Well how creative can you get with darts?" Tucker shrugged. "I bet there's a million of those out—" He cut himself off with a gigantic yawn that even Danny couldn't miss. He looked up.

"You guys should go home and get some rest." Danny said, noticing for the first time the bags under their eyes.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, and Danny couldn't help but smiling slightly. He was quite sure he had two of the greatest friends anyone could ask for.

"I'll be fine," he promised. "I'll call if there is another threat. Until then, you guys look like you need more sleep than I do." His two friends smiled tiredly back at him.

"Alright. Call if anything interesting happens!" Tucker put up his hand in farewell, and headed for the door.

Sam, also started to wave, but then stopped mid-gesture. Deciding against it, she quickly jogged over and gave Danny a gentle hug. For some reason, Danny found himself reluctant to let her pull away, and he blamed it on their experience they were going through. It made them both realize what could really be in a simple goodbye.

Wordlessly, a red Sam followed a slightly smug Tucker out of the room and the door clicked closed.

---

TBC…

Aha! No cliffhanger this time… right? Actually… humm. Nevermind.

Sorry for not updating last weekend, but I was **super** busy… and I sort of had a mini breakdown, but that's beside the point. It's too bad real life has to get in the way of writing sometimes.

Review replies!

XSuperXStarX- Thank you, I appreciate that you made no attempt on my life. :)

yaioFan080- I'm glad you got my stupid waitress thing. And, obvi. after this chapter, he's not quite ghost goo yet.

Serrafinapekkala34322- You got your wish! And having Dan be the assassin would def. be fun… -evil cackle-

Toph Is Legend- Nope. Not yet. :)

BluFox15- Look! No cliffie this time! You should be proud of me… it's just always so tempting!

SoullessAce- Yes indeed. And I'm glad that I'm one of your fav. stories on alert! That means a lot. Oh, and your concern for Danny and mine are sorta in similar places. :D

Hawkflyer667- You're opinion has been taken. We'll see if he continues to survive though… -another evil cackle-

TexasDreamer01- haha! Well, he's called Clueless for a reason.

Lydielupin- High school is just such a fun place to set this, just because of the gossip. Suspense!

Danny Phangirl- HAHAHAHA! I read this and laughed out loud. So you don't have to bring the frying pan, which is a good! I updated… relatively… fast…!

Cartoon-crazy987- I hope you didn't die, because Danny didn't! And we got our first clue to who is could be… kinda… and people are stupid.

Yugisrose- Well… I've lost track of what's long or short when it comes to this fic. I've rewritten everything like three times. Ugg. And no cliffie! Woohoo!

Chrizzie1- Oh the perils of not knowing what happens is one of the worst perils there is! I hope I saved you, because you were so nice to spare my life!

Okay, I definitely just spilled _HOT _hot cider all down my front… so I have to go deal with that. Ugh.

Please review! (aka: review because I'm so polite.)


	11. Chapter 11

_**-Previously-**_

"_HE'S BEEN POISENED! HIS BRAIN IS GONNA OVERHEAT!"_

…

"_GET HIM TO CHEMISTRY!... THE EMERGENCY SHOWER!"_

…

"_This dart… It's kind of familiar…"_

…

_Sam quickly jogged over and gave Danny a gentle hug. The situation they were in made them both realize what could really be in a simple goodbye…_

---

**Assassin **

---

**DAY 5**

**THURSDAY **

**APRIL 27, 2007**

---

AMITY HOSPITAL

1:20 a.m.

Danny rolled over again. Though he was drop dead tired, he kept jerking himself awake every hour or so. He moaned into his pillow pathetically. The tingling was keeping him awake. First it let him sleep for thirty hours, and now it wouldn't let him sleep for more than one.

Also he was feeling a bit paranoid. As he watched his heart monitor pulse and the bag drip some sort of cooling solution into his system, he wondered if any of the doctors had tried to analyze his DNA for any reason. All he needed was his secret to be in danger here too.

He reassured himself by thinking that there was no reason for them to be suspicious of his DNA if it was his array of different organs that was dealing with the poison. DNA testing was expensive, and if they didn't have to test it, they weren't going to. Then did he still feel freaked out?

He tried to not glance out the window more times than he normally would. There was no warning, so he knew he was safe. Danny focused back on the bag that was slowly dripping the cooling solution into his IV.

The nurse had said that when his immune system had just about enough and the doctors started giving up hope, he somehow overcame the poison and his body cooled itself off. Danny would have bet anything that it was his ice powers that finally kicked in. It must have gotten to a point where it was unconsciously released as a final survival tactic.

Eventually it was the slow and steady pace of his heart monitor that lulled him off to sleep again, and he had strange dreams.

---

_He was walking in a bright white and blue room, filled with luminescent pillars of frozen fire. It was as if he was taken out of time and was walking in a strange limbo. He gazed up at the great pillars of fire in awe, not quite sure what to do. He started slowly walking around the endless room, and his footsteps echoed around him. _

_Finally he came to a stop at one… this one seemed to speak to him more than the rest. He peered into the bright light in the jagged block of ice, and realized there was a dark shape inside of it, and reminded him of something familiar… it looked like the form of a person. _

_He tried to make out whom it was, but he didn't recognize him. It was a bearded man- or ghost, he corrected. His skin was a deep shade of purple, and he was dressed in bright armor. Suddenly it got too bright to look at again, and Danny had to look away. _

_He went up another pillar, and tried again. He squinted and saw someone more familiar. He blanched in surprise. It was Clockwork, suspended in ice peacefully, holding his time staff next to him, looking out in front of him as if the world lay before him. Danny knocked tentatively on the ice, but only his fading echo responded._

_Danny went through block after block of these older looking ghosts, some looking heroic and peaceful, and others looking less friendly, to say the least. Some of the faces and the glaring eyes of the more obscure ones gave Danny chills like never before. _

_Overall the room seemed to be charged with a certain energy that made all hairs on his arm's stand on end. It seemed almost tangible in front of him, swirling majestically. _

_Danny had come to feel he was meandering through some sort of hall of fame, and was blatantly awestruck. He came upon another block of ice and squinted into the light. He thought he recognized the person, but the light was too bright, as if not allowing him to see the person frozen in time. _

_He blinked. This looked _too_ familiar… and that's when a horrible crack shot out through the stale air._

_Danny, shouting a strangled cry of surprise, whirled around. All of the echoing wasn't allowing him to pinpoint where it came from. Another crack, like a gunshot, followed by a tingling sound of ice falling to the ground and shattering allowed him to finally spot it. _

_One of the pillars towards where he first entered the dream was melting, cracking in half, shattering slowly, and Danny took a step back, tempted to run. He was pretty sure that he didn't want to come face to face with anyone in this room, excepting Clockwork. Something made him stand his ground in a dreadful curiosity. _

_With one final burst the ice completely shattered, leaving a large ghost silhouetted. The light died down around his figure. Danny watched in silent terror as the ghost inhaled triumphantly. There was a moment of peace, but then the ghost's head cocked, as if he found something curious. Danny knew he was a dead man as the ghost slowly tuned his head up and to the side, facing Danny. _

_Dark red eyes bore into his. Danny couldn't move, paralyzed by horror. The eyes seemed to sparkle with maliciousness. The ghost took to the air, and flew at him faster than anything he had ever seen before. _

_Danny felt a chill run up his spine, and the familiar dread and adrenalin that accompanied it. He would have recognized it anywhere._ He jerked himself awake just as his ghost sense faded in front of his eyes.

There was a moment of silence, where Danny took a shaky breath, trying to get his thoughts straight in his pitch-black room, and then he was attacked.

Something collided with him from his side, knocking him out of his bed and into the drywall across the room. With a bone-shattering crack, Danny's head smacked the wall, and his vision went white, then faded into gray. The sudden movement had the poison screaming at him, making it feet like he was on fire again. On top of everything else he couldn't breath because someone was holding him up by the throat.

The ghost that was holding him up grunted something furiously at him, and it took a while for Danny's already nearly unconscious mind to decipher.

"Why won't you _die_?" The voice hissed. "You may have beaten his Majesty, but you _will _fall to _me_," the ghost exclaimed passionately. That's when something caught Danny's eye. He squinted his eyes, willing the blurriness and the gray to go away, but he had already seen enough. A glint of light.

Danny struggled to remember something he could do before. It came so naturally back then, and he could really use it right about now. He started groping blindly for his powers, and finally triggered intangibility. He crumpled to the ground and almost immediately lost his grip on his powers, turning tangible again while gasping for air. He was overheating again.

As soon as he hit the ground, he forced his aching mussels to push away from the ghost, but even though Danny was quick, the ghost was quicker. Danny cried out as pain slashed across his chest. Gasping for air and clutching his wound he looked up, but through the toxins racing through his veins and his sure concussion, he realized that he could only see through a pinhole compared to his usual vision… but he saw enough.

It was the same terrible eyes he had saw in his dream. That's when Danny realized that he could practically feel the power radiating from the ghost in front of him. If this ghost really wanted him dead, he would have done it already. Now he was only toying with him.

Standing over him in triumph, the ghost laughed as Danny lay weak and bleeding on the floor. "They all told me you were a great warrior. I expected more of a fight from you, Phantom.

"I actually feel a little disappointed. Maybe I shouldn't have gone through all of that long range work when I could have taken you down hand to hand after all." The ghost gave a throaty chuckle as Danny took gasping breaths on the ground, doing his best to stay conscious while holding himself up on one elbow.

"But, I suppose I should thank you," the ghost said, squatting over him. It took all Danny could muster to lift his head and glare towards the ghost. "Killing you will finally secure my place." He looked at the glimmering dagger with interest. There was already some dark liquid dripping down it, but Danny's mind couldn't quite figure out what it was.

He knew this was it. There was a tense moment of silence as finally those red eyes looked from the dagger back into Danny's eyes… and Danny knew that he wouldn't be able to move even if he had the strength left to try.

It was over in less than a second. One moment, Danny was staring into his death, and the next, a green streak crossed his vision. There was a strange whirling silence as his elbow gave out from under him and he crumpled to the floor. He was already unconscious before his head hit the ground.

---

10:58 am

---

When he awoke, Tucker and his family surrounded him once again, and he was in a different room. He hated waking up and trying to remember what had happened to get him in this situation. He groaned, rubbing his eyes and squinting at the lights. "Where's Sam?" He mumbled. Sam quickly stepped into his vision, and he immediately relaxed. Everyone was okay.

It was the normal routine. His parents fretted over him while Sam, Tucker, and Jazz stood silent and knowingly. Apparently a copy of his heart monitor was being watched twenty-four seven, and they had a policeman stationed outside his door. Of course, they wanted to question him as soon as he was out of the hospital.

When Danny's head itched and he reached up to scratch it, he realized there was a reason his hearing was muffled. He was wearing a large head bandage for a severe concussion, and examining himself, he saw had gauze wrapped all down his torso.

According to his parents his cut was the worst up towards his shoulder, and was less critical as it trailed diagonally down to his side. Luckily, he only had a total of ten stitches on his shoulder. They also informed him the wall was actually dented in his old room from where he hit the wall.

His parents refused to look him in the eye as they were explaining this, and his mom seemed on the verge of tears. Danny had never seen his parents in such a state.

"Do you remember anything? Anything at all?" His mom asked, holding his hand, and finally looking up at him.

Danny squinted his eyes. Truly he didn't remember much at all. The last thing his could thing of was his ghost sense going off… and then fire and pain. "I… I remember it was a ghost, and that he wanted me dead." He looked back up at his mom and dad and for the first time in his life, he saw his parents look terrified.

There was a moment of silence as they took in the news, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz included.

Then his parent's bursts into apologies, they blamed it on themselves, thinking there was a ghost trying to get to them through him. His mom finally did break down and cry, but she tried to hide it from him by keeping her voice strong and wiping her face before he could see any tears.

"It's not your fault," Danny said as reassuringly as possible. "If it wasn't for you, what shape would Amity be in?" He asked. His mom shook his head.

"Well, if it's not our fault, then whose fault is it?" His mom asked, sniffing quietly.

Danny opened his mouth to respond, but realized that he couldn't tell them an honest answer. He winced and closed his mouth again. "I don't know," he finally said quietly, looking down. He wanted to tell them that everything would be all right, but the truth was he didn't even know that for himself. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz guessed what he was thinking and all shared a somber look.

After an hour of talking seriously about the situation, Jazz tried to lighten the mood by dumping all of Danny's schoolbooks on his lap, and giving him his class syllabuses for the rest of the week. However, when Danny just responded with a, "thanks Jazz," instead of his usual moaning and groaning, the joke kind of fell dead.

Finally sensing that Danny wanted to talk to Sam and Tucker alone, Jazz asked her mother if she could possibly drive her back to school, now that she had seen Danny was okay. Her mom left reluctantly, and Jack stayed behind to watch over their son. When Maddie asked Sam and Tucker if they wanted a ride back to school as well, they both hastily declined with a made up story of how their parents were already coming to get them.

As soon as his mother was out of the way, the only thing Danny had to say to finally talk to Sam and Tucker was, "Dad… I'm… actually kind of craving some fudge."

Jack face immediately broke into a large grin. "That's my boy! Nothing can heal a Fenton faster than a good pound of fudge!" Danny smiled weakly in return as his father stood up excitedly. "Now the stuff they serve downstairs in the cafeteria is crap… but there is a grocery store only a block from here where I can get some good quality stuff!"

Then his dad seemed to hesitate, "shoot! I told your mother that I would stand here and watch you though…"

Sam stepped forward. "Oh, don't worry Mr. Fenton. My parents won't be here for another hour. I can watch Danny for you," she offered quickly, seeing her opportunity.

"Great! I'll be back in a jiffy then!" Jack said, and then he dashed out of the room. As soon as the door clicked shut, Sam and Tucker turned to Danny expectantly.

"Tell us everything you can," Sam demanded. Danny had prepared himself for this question by racking his brain over while his parents were questioning him.

Danny sighed. "We are definitely dealing with a ghost." He paused, but Sam and Tucker didn't say anything. "I didn't get to see much of him, but…" he quickly made and executive decision to leave out the eyes part, "he seemed more powerful than our everyday ghost."

"How did you beat him?" Tucker asked, and Danny made a face.

"I never said I did. I- I remember knowing he had me just where he wanted me… and then… something happened," Danny mumbled, his eyes staring off into space blankly, trying to remember what happened.

His friends saw his mental train of thought, and said nothing, letting him think. As time passed, Danny could remember more and more.

"He said… well, first he pinned me against the wall at ninety miles per hour at three o' clock in the morning, so I already wasn't doing that hot… but he said something about falling… about me falling… and I did fall as soon as I remembered I could go intangible… but that doesn't make any sense," Danny stopped and sorted out his jumbled and hazy memories. A few more moments passed.

"No… he said that I would fall to him. And that I defeated something… magic… majestic…? And 'die' was thrown in there somewhere too. I don't know. I can't remember." Danny said looking up at his friend's reaction to this first bit.

Their reply was a stony faced look. "Magic?" Sam repeated like it left a bad taste in her mouth. She shook her head. "Majestic sounds more likely."

"And of course 'die' would be in there," Tucker responded. "He was trying to kill you, so it's not hard to imagine."

"Then what happened?" Sam asked as she jumped up onto his bed and rested her hand lightly on his leg, looking intensely at him.

"Uhh-…" Danny started, but he couldn't think clearly. Sam didn't seemed uncomfortable at all… so why should it matter to him? "Umm… well… he…" Danny closed his eyes, and that seemed to help slightly.

"Then… I knew he had a knife, so I finally went intangible and scooted away, but he obviously nicked me," Danny said pointing to his chest. "Then he said some more… ugh! I can't think! I'm getting a migraine." Sam had a strange look on her face.

"Well, can you think of anybody that would could be called majestic that you've fought recently?" Tucker suggested. Danny massaged his forehead, closing his eyes.

"Not really. Box Ghost, Technus, Box Ghost, Skulker, Klemper, octopi, Lunch Lady, Box Ghost… only the usual, until everybody stopped attacking last week. Not even the Box Ghost…" he trailed off, finally realizing how weird it was to have not been disturbed by the Box Ghost for five days straight. Sam still didn't say anything, looking at her lap.

"What about that one ghost that you fought a couple of months ago? He had a cape, didn't he? That could be majestic!" Tucker exclaimed, but both Danny and Sam ignored him.

"Oh! I think-- I think he said something like 'this is too easy' and he expected more of me… and then he said something else…" Danny paused and Sam looked back up, "I forgot. But then…" he licked his lips, his eyes narrowed, "I… no. I think I dreamed that…" Danny stated, but then seemed to reconsider. "No… no, I didn't. I saw a streak of green."

"Green?" Tucker repeated, sinking down onto a chair.

"It was another ghost. Had to be, because what else would have gotten him off of me?" Danny muttered to himself.

"Are you sure it was green? What if it was red?" Sam asked, finally finding her voice again.

Tucker spoke up before Danny could answer. "What's special about red?"

"Maybe it was Valerie," Sam looked at Danny with another form of the strange face. "She said she would watch out for you."

Danny shook his head. "No, I'm sure it was green."

"It could have been one of her guns," Sam insisted.

"… I don't think it was though," Danny replied, rubbing his chest gently. "I… I…" he suddenly groaned in frustration, hitting the bed with his fist, "I just can't remember!"

Sam patted his leg sympathetically. "We'll figure it out Danny."

"But we don't have _time_!" He exclaimed, throwing up his arms. "Last night he was only playing with me! It was too easy. If someone hadn't come to save me, I wouldn't be here right now, guys. He had me cornered, and he knew it."

Sam and Tucker didn't say anything, and though their faces were relatively blank, their eyes danced with different emotions.

"I'm a sitting duck. If he comes back tonight, I'm a dead man." Danny finished, letting all of the frustration seep out of him and leaving only his desperation.

"Well… there's a guard outside your…" but Tucker let the sentence trail off when he saw the look both Danny and Sam were giving him.

Sam took over instead. "We'll station out the hospital tonight. We'll contact Valerie. We'll put up a ghost shield around the room. We're not going to leave you without protection after last night," she said firmly, a passionate look in her eyes.

Blue clashed with violet. After a moment, Danny sighed and relaxed a little. "Thanks guys. I'm sorry for taking it out on you, but I'm just sca- … not sure how to handle this."

Though he was sure his friends caught his hiccup, they pretended not to notice. "Neither am I," Tucker admitted. "I can handle when ghosts confront you straight up, but being hunted by one is another story completely."

"Hunted?" Danny asked.

"You know… like Skulker, only more stealthy."

"Skulker…" but then they noticed the far off look in Danny's eyes. They seemed to sparkle with the beginnings of excitement.

"Oh no," Tucker started, "there is no way in-"

"Let me see that dart!" Danny cried, reaching for him. Tucker automatically reached into his pocket and dropped the white dart with the green skull and cross bones into his friend's hands. Danny examined it closely. "I knew I recognized this! It's Skulker's!" He exclaimed, looking awed.

"No way. Skulker's not our man." Sam stated right out, hands on hips and looking at the dart skeptically.

"No! I remember now!" He explained, sitting up a little too eagerly. He fought back a wince from his face. "I saw _green flames_ last night. He's the one who saved me!"

"What does Skulker have to do with any of this?" Sam asked disbelievingly.

"Maybe he wanted to kill you himself…?" Tucker looked doubtful.

Danny was still looking at the dart, like it was the key to unraveling the mystery. "He saved me last night… but this is _his_ dart. So he also tried to kill me…?"

"That makes no sense!" Sam exclaimed. "And why would he risk his neck to save yours in the first place? That's not his personality at all!"

"Maybe Skulker is trying to kill you before anybody else can…? I could sorta see him doing that… maybe…" Tucker said with his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"I can't," Sam shot down, crossing her arms. "I can't see him doing that at all, unless he had some sort of major change of heart."

Danny clenched his teeth, and then exhaled heavily, deep in thought. "I doubt that," he said in reply to Sam's statement. Then he was silent. Tucker and Sam both turned to him. A beat passed. "But right now he's our only lead…" he snapped out from his musing and looked back at his friends. "I think we need to find him, and get him to talk."

---

_TBC…_

K. I just finished the musical, have auditions for one acts tomorrow, and a field trip! Woohoo! But I haven't done any of the homework for the past week or for tomorrow… and I'm still procrastinating! Thank you, thank you, I know I have mad procrastinating skills.

So I should get started on that, so no review replies tonight guys. Sorry. Instead I am giving you a long chapter to make up for it.

E&R! (Enjoy and review!) (laaame)


	12. Chapter 12

_**-Previously- **_

"_Why won't you __die__?" _

…

_He knew this was it. There was a tense moment of silence as finally those red eyes looked from the dagger back into Danny's eyes… _

_One moment, Danny was staring into his death, and the next, a green streak crossed his vision. _

…

_Sam patted his leg sympathetically. "We'll figure it out Danny."_

"_But we don't have __time__!" He exclaimed, throwing up his arms. "Last night he was only playing with me! It was too easy. If someone hadn't come to save me, I wouldn't be here right now, guys._

…

"_I saw __green flames__ last night. It's Skulker! He's the one who saved me!" _

…

"_I think we need to find Skulker and get him to talk."_

**---**

**Assassin**

**---**

---

**DAY 7**

**Saturday**

**April 29, 2007**

---

FENTON DOOR STOOP

12:10 pm

Sam and Tucker walked the last block to the Fenton's house, and collapsed outside the door. Tucker was fanning himself wildly at his hat, and Sam just squinted up at the blaring sun as if it were something evil.

"It is _not_ supposed to be this hot in _April_," Tucker declared breathlessly.

"I'm telling you, it's global warming! Imagine all of the icecaps that are melting right now!" Sam cried.

"Icecaps! What about me? I'm the one that's melting!" Tucker complained loudly. Sam rolled her eyes, but Tucker continued. "Where the heck is Danny? He said the we were supposed to meet ten minutes ago!"

"Maybe he's late, like we were," Sam monotoned.

"I thought he would be out of that hospital like a shot… pun intended," Tucker said, smiling slightly.

Sam looked sideways at Tucker, "that's not funny," she stated.

"What? You know I can't stand hospitals! I had the creeps the entire time we were in there. I couldn't even look at the IV in his arm," Tucker shivered, despite the heat.

Sam looked confused for a moment, but then it dawned upon her. "Ohhh, you mean like a medicine shot. I thought you meant like a gunshot. That's the normal way people use that expression."

Tucker looked over at her. "Yeah, but I was trying to make a joke since it was the… actually, never mind." Tucker said on second thought. There was a pause. "But yeah. Even_ I_ wouldn't joke about this situation, and that's saying something," Tucker declared.

A smile brushed Sam's lips, but she didn't reply. A few sweltering minutes passed in silence as the searched the skies for their friend. Their patients started to dwindle into irritation, and eventually, as another five minutes passed, into worry.

"You don't think that he would go in with out us…?" Tucker asked warily.

Sam hesitated. "I don't think so. I don't he's stupid enough to have a crazy ghost _and _us after him," she said, but her voice even sounded doubtful to her ears.

There was another moment of silence, where they contemplated that situation. Finally Tucker snapped, and spoke the words that were already hanging heavily in the air between them. "What if he's in trouble?"

Sam brushed it off a little too fast. "Oh come on Tucker. Just because he's a bit late doesn't mean that the ghost got him," Sam scoffed, but it even sounded fake to her ears.

Tucker sat up and drummed his fingers on his knees, a nervous gesture. "He's already weak…" Tucker trailed off in thought. His foot started tapping. "What if he's just been waiting for Danny to come out of the hospital to attack?" Tucker whirled around to her, and Sam saw that her friend was starting to get stressed out.

"Don't be so paranoid… Danny can handle himself." She wasn't sure who she was comforting, Tucker or herself.

"Maybe we should go check… just to make sure…" Tucker murmured, and he started to get up, but Sam pulled him back down.

"The hospital is a thirty minute _drive_ from here, Tucker. There's no way we are going to walk it when he's going to show up here in a few minutes anyways," Sam said.

Tucker surprisingly wrenched away from her grasp and stood up. "He's not invincible you know! Just because he's done this hero thing doesn't mean he's any harder to kill than you or me!" Sweat dripped down his back, and his eyes were flashing with fear.

Sam hesitated in shock at the quick mood change, but then her blunt personality took over. "Jesus Tucker! _Chill out_!" Sam yelled. She stood up, placed her hands on his shoulders, and tried to force him to sit back on the steps. "Danny's fine. We would know if he wasn't!"

He refused to sit down though. "Like how we knew Wednesday night?" Tucker asked sharply, anger starting to boil over.

Sam opened her mouth, but then closed it again, wincing. There was a moment of silence where Tucker blinked a few times, and seemed to realize what he said. He looked at Sam; what he said had hurt her. He took a deep breath. "I'm- I'm sorry… I don't know what's gotten into me…" he apologized weakly.

"It's okay," she said automatically. She slipped her hands off of his shoulders. "You're right. He could be dead in a ditch right now and we would have no idea," the vulgar idea came out a little too nonchalant.

"Sam…" Tucker said, but couldn't find the words to follow it, but Sam cut off anything he wanted to say anyways.

"No. You're totally right. He's_ not_ invincible, and I've been taking the fact he's still alive for granted. Maybe we should go check..." but Tucker held her back.

"I'm sure he'll be here in a few minutes. Didn't Danny say that everybody would be out of the house?"

They tried the door and it was unlocked, so after affirming that none of the Fenton's were home, they walked gratefully into the air conditioning, and with a lack of anything else to do, both went straight for the fridge for a drink.

It was strange being in Danny's house without him, and they both felt rather uncomfortable. Tucker sat down at the kitchen table with a Dr. Pepper just as Sam jumped up on the counter with a bottle of water.

Luckily their fear was expelled when Danny finally appeared. Tucker hopped up and offered Danny his chair. "Dude, where have you _been_?" He asked, as Danny collapsed into the chair, breathing heavily.

"My parents chased my all through town," he gasped in reply. "I didn't realize they had somehow gotten a little tracker attached to my back until I was flying over the docks…"

Both Sam and Tucker winced. The docks were all away across town. Sam and Tucker made quick eye contact that seemed to say, _I told you there was nothing to worry about. _The way he was holding his chest gingerly did not escape Sam's notice. "How are you doing?" She asked gently.

Danny sank down in the chair a little further. "I'll be fine. I'm just tired from being chased all over town… my parents haven't had a ghost to chase all week, so they took it all out on me. And then I'm also having to focus on keeping a duplicate of me down at the hospital…"

"You cloned yourself?! That's brilliant! I was wondering how you were going to get away from the hospital." Tucker mused out loud.

Sam ignored Tucker. "All of that and you're injured. How's the poison level?" She asked.

Danny's face gave away his answer. "It's fine," yet they knew that it wasn't. Sam had half a mind to call the whole thing off… but Danny was right. They needed to find out information before it was too late. But that didn't mean that she had to like it.

"Just be careful, okay? If there is any sign of danger, we are turning straight around. I couldn't- … we don't want you to get hurt again," Sam finished, somewhat lamely. Danny nodded.

"You guys ready for this?" He asked, standing up with a slight grimace.

Tucker took a long draw from his Dr. Pepper, and then stood up also. "Let's do it."

They both looked expectantly at Sam, and she sighed, looking at her two overly eager friends. Finally, with a slight eye roll, she said, "all right," and stood up.

Danny grabbed both of their arms, and phased them down to the basement. The green portal swirled ominously in front of them, casting a green glow on the dark lab. Sam and Tucker immediately went for their weapon of choice, Sam the wrist laser, and Tucker the handy old thermos.

Danny leaned against the wall heavily as they started preparing the Specter Speeder to go, trying not to show how tired he already was. Sam looked over and saw her friend looking deeply into the portal, and felt a pang through her chest. The look in his eyes was so much more mature than it was even last year. She walked over to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He looked back at her. "Are you sure you're up for this?" She asked quietly as Tucker fired up the Specter Speeder. Danny's green eyes looked from her to the hand on his shoulder, and she felt him relax a little.

"No," he admitted, "but what other choice do we have? We need to get information," he replied, turning to look back into the portal. Sam didn't take her eyes off of him, though.

After a moment of resounding silence, she slipped her hand off of his shoulder and looked down, taking a deep breath. She wasn't feeling good about this. What if it was a trap? She suddenly felt slight nauseous. She couldn't let her thoughts overwhelm her- not now. But they came anyways. This wasn't a good idea. This was going to get Danny killed… but she knew she wasn't going to say anything to stop it. Danny was right; they needed information. But she felt her conscious eating her away. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying desperately to block out her train of thought.

She didn't notice that Danny watching her until he intertwined his hand in hers, and squeezed softly. Her eyes flew open and saw his intense eyes looking into hers. "It'll be okay," was all he said, but behind it was everything Sam needed to hear. In that moment, it was only the two of them, safe and together. Danny looked back to the portal but kept her hand in his. He had no idea of what was to become of him in the future, but as long as Sam was by his side, he felt he could face it. Silently, they both drew support from the small gesture, and Sam felt herself relax. Nothing else could possibly bother her as long as Danny was beside her… well, that's what she believed until a loud honk made her nearly jump out of her skin.

Then he was gone, and Sam felt the world come crashing back down on her shoulders. "Are you two ready yet?" Tucker asked, sticking his head out the window. Danny was already twiddling with some switches to make sure the portal stayed open while they were all in there.

Sam, feeling like she had just had the wind knocked out of her, went into the Speeder and punched Tucker on the shoulder as hard as she could. "OW! HEY! What was that for?!" He cried, rubbing his shoulder and looking confused.

She didn't reply, but sat down moodily and waited for Danny to come take his seat. When he didn't follow her, she looked up and saw him floating next to the portal.

He seemed to sense their gaze. "I'm going fly next to you," he explained fiddling with his earpiece, "so… you know… I can see better."

"You can see fine in here," Tucker replied, patting the seat next to him.

"Not as well as out here," Danny said. "Plus if an attack comes, I can maneuver more."

Sam and Tucker looked curiously at him. "But it's safer in here," Sam retaliated. "If an attack comes, we can put up a shield and get the heck out."

"Yeah, but we might need a distraction at some point. The shield won't be able to hold against a really powerful attack." Danny reminded.

"And neither will you," Sam stated, starting to get irritated at his stubbornness. "We don't want you to get hurt."

"I already am hurt," Danny said, finally getting his earpiece just right.

"Danny." The tone of her voice made him stop and turn towards her.

Seeing her not amused reaction, he sighed and got serious. "Okay, fine. I just don't want to put you in anymore danger than necessary."

"Put _us_ in danger?" Tucker asked, scoffing. "Oookay. Hurry up and sit down, we need to go."

"But I'm serious!" He cried. "What if—…no. It would just be better if I was out here."

"It makes no sense for you to be out there!" Sam exclaimed. "It doesn't do anybody any good. Now get in."

"No. I want to fly out here," Danny replied with a calm tone.

"Danny!" Sam cried impatiently.

"Sam!" He responded equally. There was a moment of heavy silence where green and violet tried to stare the other down.

Finally Danny broke, sighing heavily, and looked away. "All right. Fine. The truth is, is that I don't think I could live with myself if one of you ever got hurt. There. I said it," Danny said putting up his arms in mock surrender.

"Oh please," Sam moaned, rolling her eyes. "Not this again."

"Can you just hear me out?" Danny asked but Sam ignored him.

"This is starting to get old, Danny. It's like you don't think we can fend for ourselves!"

"No… I never said that-"

Sam voice grew even louder, taking over him, and Danny snapped his mouth closed. "It's starting to get _really_ annoying. We're not helpless you know! I can fight too!"

"I know you can!" Danny snapped, and he sighed, calming himself down. "It's just that I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to--" Danny started seriously, but Sam pointed at him wildly.

"See?! There it is! You _always_ think that I am some sort of porcelain doll! But the fact of the matter is I can fight just as well as you can!"

"I know, Sam," Danny's pleaded desperately, "but-"

"NO! You _don't_ know! That's the thing! You're missing the crucial part! It's like this," Sam stated passionately, preparing to go into one of her rants. "If it comes down to it, sure! I'll take a bullet for you, but there is a certain amount of _trust_ that goes into being a team that you don't seem to get! I trust that you won't be in the way of that bullet in the first place!"

"Sam! Just listen!" Danny growled in frustration, but Sam finally snapped.

"_NO _DANNY_! YOU _LISTEN!" She yelled, standing up. "I've needed to say this for a LONG time!" The tone of her voice and the desperate look in her eyes shocked Danny into silence. She took a shaky breath and continued.

"So. If I can trust that you won't be in front of the bullet, then you need to trust that I won't be in front of the bullet! That's the part you are missing… and I can understand you wanting us to be out of danger, but the thing is you are getting dangerously close to being in front of the bullet! So I'm due to risk my neck a little to attempt to save yours! You do it all the time for me, so why can't I do it once for you?"

Danny clenched his fists and pointed an accusing finger at her. "See! That's what _you_ don't understand Sam!" Danny eyes were glowing green with fervor. "You do it for me everyday!" He finally burst out. Danny saw that he had successfully turned the tables, because now it was Sam that looked like she couldn't quite find the right response. "If it wasn't for you guys you know the kind of monster I would turn into!" Danny said, shaking.

The words seemed to hang in the air above them. He took an unsteady breath and looked down at his parent's lab. "Plus you've already taken the bullet for me once…" he said quietly, lowering himself until his feet touched the floor. "You don't know what it's like to watch… to believe—even for a second-… I… If it wasn't for Clockwork…" Danny could barely even finish the thought, much less put it into words. He looked back up at them, and the pain on his face made any anger Sam had left immediately drain away.

She wanted to say something that would take all of the uncertainty and worry away, but she came up blank. She already started to hate herself for unloading her spiel on him while they were all so emotionally drained. She swallowed, and tore her eyes away from Danny's. Seeing him like this made her feel like the biggest jerk in the world. Luckily Tucker stepped in. "Alright. You can fly out there and we'll stay in here, just… please be careful. Know your limits."

"I'll try," was Danny's weak answer. It wasn't until that moment that they realized how much this situation was affecting them. For Danny, knowing that he could die any second had matured him. Sam and Tucker were also maturing, except it was their friend they were scared for. They all looked between one another during this understanding, and knew that they wouldn't be able to take much more.

Finally Danny straightened up and spoke again. "We… need to get going," he reminded quietly, and Sam and Tucker solemnly agreed. Danny took to the air and knowing that his friends would follow, he shot into the Ghost Zone.

Wordlessly, Tucker pressed the accelerator and they zoomed off after Danny.

---

TBC…

Hiya guys! This chapter was kind of an emotional roller coaster, and those are always fun to type, but hard to get right. Sorry for the delay, btw. A whole bunch of tests and a week in Mexico is this updates excuse, but I'm still chugging out these chapters! This one is 10 pages long- so be happy.

REVIEW REPLIES!

Outsideshotkb- PM me what you think the ending is then! Those are fun. One time I actually got one that outlined a better ending than I had planned… that one was surprising. I didn't take it though so don't worry…

Nut and Shell- haha! Well, I'm glad you unintentionally found my story… and you never know. Vlad would certainly be quite a twist, wouldn't he?

TexasDreamer01- Yeah… I'm really slacking in Chemistry. Fun course- just hard. And about old Vladdy- we'll just have to see.

SoullessAce- haha, I can see how Skulker could be a bit put off by that… and our mystery ghost is about to get a bit more intriguing in the next chapter… or maybe the one after it.

Lydielupin- ME TOO! I worry about the weirdest stuff. And I've actually stood up for my sister once when I was complaining about how annoying she is, and when my friends agreed, I got a defensive. And don't worry about being super busy: I know EXACTLY where you are coming from.

Lady Canu- Ah- first one to comment on the "majesty" bit. Good reading. ;)

E-Dantes- I was trying to be a symboliz-y with the dream. You know when you are in English and the teacher is talking about how when the author said, "the grass is green" he really means "my life is great"? Sometimes I really do believe that he actually was explaining the grass, but in the dream, read closely. It has a whole bunch of goodies of what is to come in the story.

Yugisrose- And it's going to keep thickening and thickening… like preparing a good soup. :D

PhantomFreak301- I'M TYPING I'M TYPING! lol

Preemtive Karma- Thanks! I'm trying really hard to make it tough to figure out… but I need to give out more clues to make it really good. I don't want this to be a light switch story: keep everything in the dark and then suddenly hit the light switch. Sorry, ranting. Humm… -plots ideas-

Chalicity- I hate reading cliffies, but I can't help but do a story with one in nearly every chapter. I'm so hypercritical. XD

Hokay. Finally over 100 reviews!!! Woohoo! Oh! I wonder who review #100 was! –checks- Oh! It was E-DANTES!!! You get a gold star! Hooray!

Next update soon! Reviews are read and appreciated!


	13. Chapter 13

**Quick Warning****: I included a swear word in this chapter. "Gosh dang it" didn't seem to embrace the situation. But the characters in this story have matured since the show, and this story is rated T for the mature themes already, so it was bound to happen.**

**---**

_**-Previously- **_

"_I think we need to find Skulker and get him to talk."_

…

"_He's not invincible you know! Just because he's done this hero thing doesn't mean he's any harder to kill than you or me!" _

…

"_Are you sure you're up for this?"_

"_No, but what other choice do we have? We need to get information."_

…

_She didn't notice that Danny watching her until he intertwined his hand in hers, and squeezed softly. Her eyes flew open and saw his intense eyes looking into hers. "It'll be okay," was all he said, but behind it was everything Sam needed to hear._

…

"_So I'm due to risk my neck a little to attempt to save yours! You do it all the time for me, so why can't I do it once for you?"_

"_See! That's what __you__ don't understand Sam!__If it wasn't for you guys you know the kind of monster I would turn into!" _

…

"_Just… please be careful. Know your limits."_

"_I'll try"_

**---**

**Assassin**

**---**

GHOST ZONE

12:50pm

The Ghost Zone was as green and swirly as ever, except there was one minor detail that was missing.

"Where are all the ghosts?" Tucker asked. If there were tumbleweeds in the Ghost Zone, he was sure one of them would have passed them. Sam didn't answer, and Danny didn't seem to have heard him. Tucker then realized that he actually didn't hear him, and quickly pressed a button to connect Danny's headset to transmit speakerphone to the Specter Speeder.

"Can you hear us? Over." Tucker asked making sure the connection was made.

"Yeah," Danny's monotone voice crackled over the speaker. He flew up out of sight, and Tucker continued on towards Skulker's Island.

"No, over? Over." Tucker asked, trying to lighten the mood. He saw Sam roll her eyes.

"Not now, Tuck," Danny's voice replied seriously. "Where are all the ghosts?" He asked, paralleling the question Tucker had asked only moments before.

"I was wondering the same thing. Over." Tucker said. He could practically feel Danny also rolling his eyes. Tucker looked over at Sam, and saw that she didn't look like she was in the mood to talk yet, so he pressed some buttons and a holographic map of the Ghost Zone they had plotted so far projected onto the windshield. Like a submarine, a scanner circled over the map, and several light green dots appeared after it. However, all of the dots were in dark green boxes, signifying the different ghost lairs.

Tucker looked at the map closely. "It's looks like they're around… but all just in their lairs. I wonder if they finally got your message…? … over."

"I doubt it. But that seems about right because my ghost sense has been going off nonstop. I wonder why…" Danny trailed off.

There was a minute of silence, and finally Tucker asked, "Wonder what?"

"Hmm?" Danny asked.

"Wonder what? You said 'I wonder why-' and never finished," Tucker explained, getting slightly annoyed.

"What? I was just thinking I wonder why the ghosts are staying in their lairs. That's all," Danny explained, pulling up next to them again, eyebrow quirked.

"Oh. I thought you were starting a new subject or something. It's just confusing when I don't know when you are done talking. _Over_," Tucker said, glancing at Danny from the corner of his eye.

Danny looked at Tucker curiously and it finally seemed to snap into place. "Do you really want me to say over that badly?" He scoffed.

Tucker sniffed and shrugged, refusing to look at Danny. "Well, it's _only_ the proper thing to do," he stated. "Over."

Danny sighed, allowing himself to smirk slightly, then quickly covered it up. "Fine. _Over._ Are you happy now?" Danny asked mockingly as they passed over more familiar landmarks. Danny pulled ahead of the Speeder, and started to put more and more distance between himself and it. Then, after a brief realization, remembered to say, "Over."

"Are you actually going along with this?" Sam asked Danny disbelievingly, but Tucker cut her off.

"No. You messed it up. You're only supposed to say over when you're done talking. Over."

"What? You just said over twice too. And shouldn't Sam say it?" Danny asked, his mood starting to lighten.

"I'm _not_ saying over," Sam stated.

"You just did," Danny remarked, smiling outright now that he was far enough ahead of the Speeder.

"Shut up, Danny," Sam growled, but also felt her chest start to weigh less.

There was a long pause. "Tucker?" Danny asked. Sam looked over at Tucker with an eyebrow cocked, but he only kept looking straight ahead.

Danny stopped and looked back at the Speeder. Danny peered curiously into the window. "Hellooo? Can you hear me?" It whizzed past him and continued ahead. He started to fiddle with his earpiece again, "is this thing on?"

"You didn't say over!" Tucker finally cried in frustration.

"Yes I did!" Danny defended.

"Not at the end of your sentence!" He cried.

"Well you're not doing it anymore either!" Danny pointed out, catching up with the speeder. Tucker opened his mouth to respond, and then realized that Danny had a good point.

Sensing his thoughts, Danny and Sam laughed. Tucker tried to keep an irritated scowl, but even he couldn't help but crack a sheepish grin after a while. Mission: Lighten the Mood was a success.

However, just as their laughter died down to only chuckles, they surpassed a small floating piece of land and their final destination came into view. The trio immediately fell quite, and the seriousness of the situation came back and hit them full in the face. Already it seemed like their laughter, just echoing moments before around them, was years ago.

"What if he's not there?" Sam asked, half hopefully.

"He'll be there. If he's not in Amity, where else could he be?" Danny asked rhetorically, looking warily over the dark and ominous island.

"What if he doesn't want to talk? Do you have enough energy to fight?" Tucker asked, looking over at Danny. He didn't answer. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Tucker gulped.

"We could still go back. I think it might be safer to go a couple more nights with the Ghost Shield…" Sam stated.

Danny shook his head. "No. You guys weren't there to see this guy. He's strong. The Ghost Shield can only keep out average powered ghosts."

"But weren't you only semiconscious the entire time?" Sam asked. "Even the Box Ghost could seem scary then…"

"No, it's in the eyes… just trust me on this one," Danny said.

Suddenly the map that had been minimized on the Specter Speeder's screen jumped back up again urgently. A green dot flashed earnestly on the screen. Tucker blinked twice before realizing what it was. "_Danny_!" Was all the warning Danny had, but it was too late.

Danny tensed, swinging into battle position just as a net wrapped itself around him, tangling him in the air and sending him flying back.

Danny cried out in surprise, but then he was jerked to a stop, the net cutting into his back. Danny, confused, saw that it was still connected to a metal rope. Before he could figure out what it was for, a wave of electricity coursed down it and hit him. He couldn't hold back the scream that tore through his throat, every nerve seeming to respond to the attack… and then it stopped. He felt what little energy he had leave him, and he started falling, his world going black around him.

"Tuck! Do something!" Sam cried, frozen in her seat. Tucker snapped back to his senses, and pressed three buttons on the dashboard. A missile shot out of both sides and the top of the Speeder, automatically targeting the invisible ghost. However, the three missiles never collided with anything. They just kept going straight on until they collided with a small island, opposite of Skulker's.

That's when they realized Danny and his net had disappeared too. "Where'd he go?!" Tucker exclaimed, looking wildly around. Sam quickly pressed the button that brought up the map, and they both stared blankly at it. There were no more dots. Whoever had Danny was now gone.

---

After a few minutes of pulling up every application the Specter Speeder had and fruitlessly looking around for their friend Tucker exploded. "They couldn't have just disappeared! Since when can ghost's teleport?!" Tucker wailed.

"There has to be something wrong with the map. Ghost's _can't _teleport." Sam stated, trying her best to keep calm. She realized that it hadn't really hit her yet.

"Yes they can! We've never seen one, but that doesn't mean they can't!" Tucker argued senselessly, not sure who to take out his frustration on. Sam didn't answer, but just stared at the place Danny used to be.

"Oh God…" Tucker clutched his hat, "what if it's the ghost that's trying to kill him? Didn't Danny say he was super fast?!" He panicked.

"No… don't be so…" Sam voice cracked, and she quickly shut her mouth. Finally she exclaimed, "I knew this was a bad idea! I knew it, but I didn't say anything!"

Tucker didn't reply, but instead looked at the map, magically waiting for the two dots to appear. "I think we all knew this was a bad idea," he said, his brain not really engaged in the conversation anymore. An idea had struck him. He started to type frantically into the computer.

"But you don't understand! Ghosts in here don't just want him dead! They want to kill him! They want to watch him die! The slower the better! God Tuck- they're going to torture him!" Sam was on the brink of tears. Sam. Crying. She wouldn't even believe it if she heard it. "We got to find him!"

"I know Sam!" Tucker yelled, frustrated. The computer blanched at him, and an error box shot up on the screen. "_God damn it_!" He exclaimed. Sam jumped. She had never heard him cuss before. "He's in ghost mode. He doesn't have any real-word items on him." He hit the keyboard, causing the error box and the map to disappear, and slouched in his seat. He slowly exhaled, rubbing his temples, and his face morphed from angry to empty. "I thought I could get him for a second."

"Is there anything else we can do?" Sam asked anxiously, pulling up the main screen and looking at all of the applications on the glass in front of her.

"Not in here. The Fenton's didn't really make this for _tracking _ghosts," Tucker said.

"Well… we can't just give up! We've got to help him!"

"Well, do _you_ have any ideas?" Tucker asked, irritation creeping into his voice again. Sam paused, thinking. A quick flash of hope suddenly struck her, straightening her back, and causing her to gasp. "The Boooooomerang!"

Tucker looked up at her, no emotion in his eyes. "We destroyed that months ago, Sam," he reminded. Sam's hope was immediately extinguished, leaving her feeling emptier and more helpless than before. Danny destroyed in after his parents had spent an entire day trying to figure out why it locked on to his DNA signature. At the time it seemed like a good idea.

"I knew this was a bad idea," she repeated, slouching down again.

"Maybe he'll find a way out. He's been in worse conditions, right?" Tucker even sounded doubtful.

"Yeah. Of course he has," Sam agreed, racking her brain for a situation that could parallel with this one, but coming up blank. Sam tried to keep her mind away from what could happen to her friend, weak and helpless in the clutches of a ring of ghosts, gathering closer, torches lit around them… Danny curled up… she suddenly cursed herself for getting into Dark literature. Now her advanced knowledge of medieval torture devices was haunting her. She squeezed her eyes closed, and held her head in her hands.

"Let's get out of here. The last thing we need is to draw out more ghosts," Tucker mumbled, not quite sure what to do.

"But—" Sam started sitting up, but Tucker cut her off.

"We're not doing anything except endangering ourselves by staying here!" He said defensively, but then he paused, and calmed himself down. "We have no idea when Danny is going to reappear. He would have wanted us to get ourselves safe," Tucker reminded, thinking back to the argument.

"Don't talk like he's already dead!" Sam snapped irritably.

"I wasn't!" Tucker defended. "I'm sure he'll be fine," Tucker comforted, but it lacked the confidence that was normally dominating his voice. He turned the Speeder around, and started back towards the portal. Sam didn't argue, but she once again fought back an anxiety attack that was threatening to take over.

---

TBC…

I feel like I am constantly apologizing for not updating fast enough, but this time- though I've said this before- I have several excuses. It's actually beyond a miracle I'm updating. If you want a glimpse into the rantings of the author's life for the past two weeks, keep reading, if not, scroll down.

1) TWO WEEKS AGO: The custody evaluation my parents have been fighting over 2 year about came out. We're still trapped in Minnesota, even though my mom and my siblings want to move to Arizona, but our father won't let us. We thought we would move this summer. The courts informed us that if we do that, mom will be arrested for kidnapping us. WHAT?!

2) LAST WEEK: My dad (who I haven't talked to in nearly a year) when to the hospital with a heart attack. That's a wake up call. (Maybe he'll like sign the divorce papers now and let us move so we can start talking again.)

3) FRIDAY: My very good friend went to the hospital Friday with an anxiety attack and I was, quite literally, thrown in the middle of it. It's the only story I have all of the details on. Here's what happened:

I was in detention during lunch when she started having it, and she came to find me, because she knew I've had one before and I knew how to calm her down, but I wasn't it my room. She tried to calm herself down to no avail. She still felt obligated to go to Chemistry though, but before class could even really start, she ran out of the room. Even though I sit on the other side of the room, that's when I knew something was wrong.

As I was bringing her bag up to her after class, I was nearly hit with the ambulance (which is ironic) AND the stretcher (I had to climb over a table to get out of it's way). Everybody got mad at me. So I go in there and see her curled up in a ball hyperventilating and sobbing, and the new nurse was YELLING at her to breath normally. That's the WRONG thing to do. I knew all she needed was a familiar face to hold her and take her mind off whatever she was stressing about, but when I tried to get in the nurse started yelling at _me_. "That's (insert name here) in there isn't it!" "I can't say." "That's her. Let me in. I can help." "No you can't. Don't you have a class right now?" "Let me just say hi! She needs to be distracted!" "No, I can't let you in. Go to class now, or I'll call the Dean of Students." I nearly tackled her to the ground, but then I realized that the stretcher was already in there, so professionals had it from there.

On my way back to class _I _started going into a panic attack, because seeing your friend (who lives next door to you in a dorm) that messed up is scary. Luckily I was able to pull myself out of it before I got to class. She's fine now, but it certainly sent me for a whirl.

4) NEXT TWO WEEKS: I have a paper due in my U.S. History class that whatever letter grade I get on it will basically be the grade I get in that class. Due Tuesday. That's what my friend went into the panic attack about. There's another paper like that due in English next Friday too. Rough life.

But I'm surprisingly happy with all of this going on in the background. My mom calls it "compartmentalizing," and I know I'm going to have my own anxiety attack around exams, but right now, I still have some room back there. :D Sorry for ranting to you, but at least my life has been interesting.

Just a quick thanks to everybody who reviewed!!! And review replies to people who said more than "update soon" or something might or might not be coming by Personal Message.

Alexia Moonlight, commando, Preemtive Karma, hawkflyer667, E-Dantes, Nut and Shell, The Feral Candy Cane, Out-Of-Countrol-Authoress, outsideshotkb, SoullessAce, Kagome51, PhantomFreak301, Yugisrose, TexasDreamer01, JapaneseAnimeFreak16, lydielupin, NekoDoodle, AND SadieYuki.

Thanks guys!

Update will come in the next two or three weeks… hopefully…

Oh yeah, I'm filming a movie too, to add to my schedule.

Review please!


	14. Chapter 14

_**-Previously- **_

"_I think we need to find Skulker and get him to talk."_

…

"_He's not invincible you know! Just because he's done this hero thing doesn't mean he's any harder to kill than you or me!" _

…

"_No. You guys weren't there to see this guy. He's strong… it's in the eyes… just trust me on this one," _

…

_Danny tensed, swinging into battle position just as a net wrapped itself around him, tangling him in the air and sending him flying back. _

"_Tuck! Do something!"_

_That's when they realized Danny and his net had disappeared too. Whoever had Danny was now gone. _

…

"_Is there anything else we can do?" _

"_Not in here. The Fenton's didn't really make this for tracking ghosts," _

…

"_Let's get out of here."_

"_But—" _

"_We're not doing anything except endangering ourselves by staying here!"_

_He turned the Speeder around, and started back towards the portal. Sam didn't argue, but she once again fought back an anxiety attack that was threatening to take over_

**---**

**Assassin**

**---**

Danny hit the ground hard, flipping over himself several times before skidding to a halt. He didn't hear the clattering of his Fenton phone as it hit the floor. He gritted his teeth, waiting a few seconds to make sure he could still move. As soon as he realized nothing was broken, he became aware that he was still hopelessly tangled in the net.

Finally his captor made himself visible and landed on the ground in front of him, a metal clang echoing throughout the room.

"Have you gone completely _insane_?!" The familiar voice cried, annoyed. All Danny could see was the metal combat boots, but he already knew he had got what they came to the Ghost Zone for.

Danny felt the net phase away from his body, and suddenly his limbs were free again. He slowly sat up and slid his aching body over to a wall he could lean against. The poison, having been activated by the electricity was causing him to gasp painfully, and he was pretty sure he broke some of his stitches during the fall. Sure enough, she saw a dark stain on his black uniform spreading. He cursed.

"He got you pretty good didn't he?" Skulker said, examining the halfa in front of him gravely.

"Have you ever heard of a _nonviolent_ discussion before?" Danny asked irritably. "Sam and Tuck are probably flipping out right now," he exclaimed looking around the room for his Fenton phone, finally realizing it had fallen out of his ear.

"I had to get you away from them. Everything I am about to say is confidential. If it get out in the Ghost Zone that I'm helping you, we'll both be dead."

Danny ignored him. "If you tell me, I tell Sam and Tuck." He looked up at Skulker, finally, and realized he had no idea where they were. They were in a huge rather sophisticated lab, with several beakers and Petri dishes strewn about with different contents, and a heavy aroma of gas. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure," Skulker said, as Danny looked around. He looked at the wall he was leaning against, and was surprised to spot his earpiece only a few feet away. It looked like it had been smashed from the fall. Danny groaned, reaching over and picking it up. Some of the plastic was cracked, showing the frayed wires underneath.

"We could be anywhere, really," Skulker continued, oblivious to Danny's findings. "I just kind of dived into a door and this is where we ended up," he eyed what looked like a warning poster on the wall that wasn't English. "We might be in Russia."

"Russia!" Danny yelped. "How are we going to get back?!"

Skulker pointed to a swirling green vortex in the wall next to them. "That'll stay open as long as we're here."

Danny looked over at the swirling portal for a moment, before a thought struck him. He looked back up at Skulker. "Why did you bring me here?" He asked. Skulker couldn't have known they were looking for him.

"Because you obviously don't know when you're in danger," he shot back, crossing his arms.

"What are you tal—" Danny started, his eyebrows creasing, but Skulker cut him off.

"What were you _thinking_ going in to the Ghost Zone? Do you have some sort of death wish?!" Skulker asked incredulously.

"No," Danny replied calmly, "I was coming to find you. I wanted to know why you saved me."

At first Skulker didn't seem to hear him and started, "You could have been—" but then what Danny said sunk in, and it seemed to completely knock him off balance. "Save- _save_ you?" His robotic mouth worked to form words. "What makes you think that?" He cried.

"Well, that ghost was about to kill me and then you threw him out of the room," Danny said slowly. "So you saved me."

Skulker looked like he is in an awkward stage somewhere between defiance and embarrassment. "Well- I… I… is that it?" Skulker asked, giving into embarrassment and rubbing the back of his neck.

Danny looked at him strangely. "What?"

"Never mind," Skulker exhaled- something Danny knew he didn't need to do anymore, but it still seemed to help him relax. "I didn't think you would remember that."

Danny didn't say anything, but just examined the ghost in front of him for the first time. He looked tired. "Why?" He finally asked.

"Why did I save you?" Skulker repeated, buying himself time.

"Why did you risk your neck when you're one of the ones that wants me dead?" Danny shot back. Of course he would get down to the mystery ghost, but this question bugged him. There are a million reasons why a ghost wanted to kill him, but why would Skulker save him?

"Well… I can't have some other ghost barge in and kill my prey in one shot. That would stain my honor!" Skulker exclaimed, but it still didn't feel right.

"Then why haven't you killed me yet? Here I am, at your mercy! Why are you hesitating?" Danny questioned.

Skulker grunted, "don't tempt me," but then said, "there would be no honor in that. Another hunter has already wounded you. It would be like I was stealing his prize."

Danny shivered, "_so_ wrong." He shook his head, but Skulker ignored him. "Then why haven't any of the other ghosts stepped in? They want to kill me as much as you do," Danny said suspiciously.

Skulker shifted uncomfortably, "I guess they're afraid."

"Afraid? Of me?" Danny asked stupidly.

"Not of you, dimwit! Of Assassin!"

---

Almost to the portal, Sam pulled up the map of the Ghost Zone one last time, searching desperately for any dots out of place. "This doesn't feel right… we can't just leave!" Sam exclaimed after a long silence.

"But what else can we do?" Tucker asked, exasperated. "Danny's the ghost fighter… hanging the Ghost Zone without him is suicide!"

Something flared in Sam. "We're ghost fighters too Tuck! We've handled ghosts on our own plenty of times!"

"But this is the _Ghost Zone_, Sam!" Tucker said. "Dude, if I ever let anything happen to you, Danny would kill me."

Sam snapped. "Is this because I'm the girl?!" She yelled.

Tucker looked over at her, not understanding. "… What?"

"Do you 'men' feel the need to protect me?! I'm not some sort of damsel in distress here! I've saved your butt dozens of times!" Sam howled.

Tucker's face froze as she said this. "Oh! T-that's not what I meant-" He quickly babbled, realizing he had awoken Sam's feministic side, but she cut him off.

"That's it. Give me the wheel," Sam demanded, pushing Tucker to the corner and grabbing the handles.

Tucker, smooched between the window and the seat, asked, "what are you _doing_?"

"There's a dot on Skulker's Island. We're going to go talk to him," Sam stated as if it was a fact.

"Talk to him?" Tucker repeated, disbelievingly, while crawling behind Sam to get to the passengers seat. "What if he doesn't want to 'talk'?" Tucker asked, buckling his seatbelt.

"Then we'll fight," Sam growled, her eyes looking determinedly ahead.

"And how exactly are we supposed to beat a ghost as powerful as Skulker without Danny?" Tucker asked, eyes wide and still unconvinced.

"The Fenton's are the best ghost hunters in the world, and this is considered one of their best inventions. I'm sure we can figure out a few tricks," Sam replied, monotone.

Tucker was speechless, so Sam continued. "I'm not going to leave Danny in here without getting some information first."

"It's like a vicious cycle!" Tucker exclaimed, laughing to himself.

Sam looked at him from the corner of her eye. "What's like a vicious cycle?"

"If anything happened to you, Danny would kill me, and if anything happens to him, you kill me!"

"We're not going to die, Tuck," Sam said, rolling her eyes and missing the point entirely.

"Why don't you two just get together already?!" Tucker groaned, sinking into his seat.

Too busy arguing, they did not see the red eyes tracking their progress to the island.

---

"Assassin?" Danny repeated. "Who's that?" Skulker just looked down at the bloodstain still spreading on Danny's suit, and Danny understood. "The guy that's trying to assassinate me is actually named Assassin?" He asked incredulously.

"Nobody knows his real name," Skulker said gravely, but his voice cracked.

Danny didn't miss it. He looked up at him, not sure what to make of it. "But you're not scared of him?" He asked slowly.

Skulker shifted nervously. "I… I… well, I mean of course! He's the biggest threat to the Ghost Zone since Pariah Dark!" He exclaimed.

"But you still risked your own neck against him to save me?" Danny asked, realizing this was staring to go in circles. He couldn't help but getting sarcastic. "I'm touched."

His enemy groaned in frustration. "I didn't save you because I like you, whelp!" Skulker growled. "I saved you because I think you're the only one who can defeat him!"

Now it was Danny's turn to be knocked off balance. "What? Me?! But he's nearly killed me three times before I've even seen him!" Danny reminded.

"Well you have a better chance than the rest of-" but a sudden beeping from his arm cut him off. He looked down and his form went ridged.

"Sorry… I need to take this." Skulker flipped open a latch on his arm, and a green light reflected up onto his face. Danny watched as his eyes flicked back and forth. He was reading a message.

It was when Skulker's expression went from stony to confused, and then to a look of horror before going back to a forced stony again. He looked up at Danny so briefly that Danny thought he might have imagined it. Then his fingers started flying across a keyboard under the screen.

"What does it say?" Danny asked finally.

Skulker didn't reply at first, but flicked the metal flap close sharply, and looked up at him, meeting his eye line only briefly before looking at the wall behind him. "It was nothing. Just a friend."

Danny shook his head in amazement. "You have friends? I would have never seen that one coming."

Skulker didn't even send Danny his usual scowl. Danny took note of his face carefully. Whoever had called his wasn't his friend.

"What did he want?" Danny asked carefully.

Skulker looked at him suspiciously. "None of your business whelp." Danny's eyebrows fell into a confused crease. Skulker was defensive… never a good sign. Skulker seemed to read his train of thought, because he sighed and then quickly said, "He wanted to go hunting. I told him I was busy. That's all."

Still, as the echoes of his voice died, something still didn't feel right, and Danny started to get an uneasy feeling in his gut.

---

"I don't want to talk about that right now," Sam mumbled, furious at herself for blushing at a time like this. "We're getting close to the island. We have to be on guard."

Tucker sighed. "You're right. But it would just be easier to deal with you two if you at least admitted that you liked each other," he commented with a little annoyance in his voice. "It's hard being monkey in the middle between you two."

"Not now Tuck," she growled between her teeth, still refusing to look at him. She leaned over the steering while as the island approached.

There was a speck in front of her. She blinked. She swore it wasn't there before. She tried to figure out what it was. Floating debris? They were still to far away to tell. It could even be Danny for all she could tell. "Hey Tuck…" she trailed off. Just then, it got into sensor range. Alarms started going off, and several screens popped up, and Sam had to squint through them to see ahead. Tucker sorted through all of them and as his eyes flicked across one page, his face went white.

"Sam! This guy's power is off the charts-"

Sam mouth went dry. She looked back towards the dot, but it was gone. "He's gone!" She exclaimed.

Tucker started pulling up another screen, crying "Where'd he—" but then it felt like they hit a wall. They went from going god knows how fast to zero in less than a second. The Speeder was jerked back with such force that Sam and Tucker felt like they were in a car accident. They weren't even able to scream. With a wet crack, Sam hit her head against the steering wheel while Tucker's seatbelt cut into his flesh.

Sam's world was black, speckled with red, and it felt like she could only see through a pinhole. She was looking out the driver side window, her body pressed against the seat. She didn't dare move her head. It felt like it had been split open by an axe. She groaned, pain forking through her in time with her heart.

She felt a tear trickling down her cheek. Gasping in agonizing breaths, she raised her hand and touched it lightly. When she drew it back, it was covered in red. "Sam!" Tucker cried from out of her vision, but then, with a sickening crack, they were hit again.

---

Danny watched Skulker get more and more uncomfortable, noticing how he wouldn't even meet his eye line at all any more. "Why do you think _I'm_ the only one that can stop him? Aren't there plenty of ghost out there that are more powerful than me?"

"Of course there are, but they don't like to get directly involved with these kind of things. In fact, if Assassin is successful, a few might ally themselves with him." Skulker said solemnly.

"What do you mean by successful?" Danny asked slowly, as if afraid where this was going, starting to fiddle with the earpiece in his hand subconsciously.

"I… well…" he hesitated, seeming like he didn't want to talk about it, but then remembered the kind of favor he was asking of Danny. "He wants to establish another monarchy in the Ghost Zone, like how it was back in old days. And he wants to be the king of it…"

"So why should I care?" Danny asked, twirling the earpiece between his fingers.

"Don't you see?! He thinks that if he defeats you, the one who defeated the last ghost king, that he will be the new ruler! And he's right!"

"And how am_ I_ supposed to stop him?!" Danny asked, exasperated. "I destroyed the Ecto-suite after took control of Jazz, and that was the only thing that could give me the power to defeat Pariah Dark! And it nearly killed me! You have to remember that _I'm still alive_!" Danny cried.

"_This_ is your advantage." Skulker said, and pressed a button on his chest. A compartment opened on his shoulder, and he pulled out something very familiar. Danny felt his jaw drop.

"How did you get one of _those_?!"

---

Sam knew she wasn't in a good condition. Her nerves screamed in protest, but she forced her head to turn back front, to see what was going on. With glazed eyes, Sam noted dully that there was a figure in front of them, a ghost, and it appeared like he was trying to break the windshield. Tucker reached forward, about to press a button, but then with the distinct sound of shattering, glass was everywhere.

Sam barely noted the pricks of pain, nearly unconscious. Tucker cried out next to her, but she didn't care. She just wanted to sleep.

Tucker wasn't in great shape himself. He was pretty sure he had whiplash from the initial attack, and now he had multiple new cuts from the windshield breaking in. His arm was the worst. His yellow shirt was so torn and stained it was nearly unrecognizable. Sam seemed to have missed the worst of the glass, but there was a gash on her head from where she hit the steering wheel. She didn't look good, but he couldn't worry about her now.

Tucker was realizing all of this in a millisecond, meanwhile seizing up the ghost, smiling sickly in front of him. Tucker knew if he didn't do something, both him and Sam were going to die. Using his good arm, he lashed out for a promising looking button again. With a satisfying hiss, a missile shot out at the ghost. However, the ghost's sharpened teeth merely smiled at him. Knowing that Tucker was watching, he pushed a small coat of arms on his plated chest. A huge ghost ray fired from it, deflecting the missile back at them.

Tucker watched in horror as the missile came charging back towards the Speeder. There was nothing he could do. He ducked, like how they had always showed in airplane safety demonstrations.

Sam wasn't aware of the missile charging towards them, but she knew she was only seconds from going unconscious. The darkness was wrapping around her like a warm blanket, numbing all of the pain.

She knew Danny was their only hope to get them out of this, and she worked to form his name on her lips, in one last desperate plea. She wasn't sure if she had even gotten it out or not, because just then there was a blinding flash and a wave of excruciating heat, and she knew no more.

---

TBC…

Okay. I thought _last_ update my life was hectic, with my friend going to the hospital once, but for this update… Well let me think.

Times that by… *thinking* six, with me being always the one holding her and calling for help each time, while my friend was having a mixture of seizures, panic attacks, and fainting spells. She's finally gotten better though, but she had to leave school on "medical leave." Then one girl in my dorm nearly cut off her finger right next to me and later fainted with blood loss, so that was fun. Umm… Junior year exams were ROUGH, and… my mom's boyfriend finally proposed!!! That was today actually. SQUEE!!!

So now it's finally SUMMER! YESSSSS! I'm just so… happy! *cries tears of joy*

Oh yeah! Sorry for the long "previously," but I felt it was necessary since it's been so long since I last updated.

Thank you for all the reviews!!! I actually have a lot of time to reply to all of your reviews, but I have a new book idea that I am furiously typing, so I'm going to get back to that. But thank you thank you thank you! It's you guys that keep me going!

Please Review!


	15. Chapter 15

Err… so if I had waited another three months to update this, it would have been a year since I updated last. So I'm giving a very detailed "previously" that you can skip over if you remember what's happening.

**PREVIOUSLY:**

_So, someone is after Danny. Danny has been nearly shot at the senators speech, almost blown up in his house, and finally, he was poisoned via dart at school. It almost does him in, but he is saved by Sam's fast thinking. Before each attack, Danny had received a warning, but the trio can't figure out who is trying to help them._

_In the hospital, Assassin finally attacks him directly, and to Danny's surprise, Skulker saves him. Weakened by the poison and injured from Assassin's direct attack, Danny still decides to go into the Ghost Zone to find Skulker to talk about why he would ever do such a thing. However, Skulker finds him instead. Invisibly capturing him in the Ghost Zone so Assassin wouldn't see them, he takes Danny to a safe place, and tells him that he is the only person who can stop Assassin._

_Assassin wants to become the new king of the Ghost Zone, and he believes that if he defeats Danny- who defeated Pariah Dark- that he would take the position from Danny. Meanwhile, Sam and Tucker are left to conclude that Assassin had captured Danny. They're frantic with worry when they are suddenly attacked. They are hurt badly, and the last chapter ends with them falling unconscious in the wrecked Specter Speeder._

_Danny is still talking to Skulker, who may have just presented the one chance he might have at survival._

**Assassin**

**RUSSIA (?)**

**TIME UNKNOWN**

Danny looked at the medallion swaying lightly in Skulker's outstretched hand. It glimmered innocently at him. There was an inscribed CW into the gold pendant.

"Clockwork," was all Skulker had to say, and Danny understood.

"So Clockwork's involved again?" Danny asked, suddenly wary of the time stopper. Whenever Clockwork got involved, it was never a good sign.

"Yes. He said that this is the only way you can stop Assassin," Skulker replied, letting the pendant fall from his hands into Danny's.

Danny looked at the medallion, the responsibility, in his hands. "Why can't you do it? Just freeze time and imprison him or something?"

If possible, Skulker got even weirder. "Uh- Clockwork said I couldn't… something about how us ghosts would use it to take over the world instead of do the right thing…"

Danny felt a headache coming on. "But you were holding on to it all this time… if you were going to take over the world, you would have done it already, and if you really care enough about taking this guy out to bother to save my life and give it to me…"

Skulker seemed to be getting fed up with all of the logic. "Can you just shut your mouth for three seconds whelp? It doesn't matter about who did what and when and why… all that matters is that it's your responsibility now! Clockwork knows I wouldn't be able to finish the job, but obviously he thinks differently of you! Now stop arguing!"

Danny was shocked into silence. For a moment, all that could be heard was the heating system starting up, and dripping from a leak. That's when it happened. It was so quite that if the silence hadn't occurred, he would have missed it. The broken earpiece he had been fiddling with some how gave one last spurt of life. It was a desperately whispered, "Danny…" and then a loud sharp noise as the transmission was cut off. Not even white noise followed.

"Sam!" Danny yelled, springing to his feet faster than his head could handle. His world went spinning as he started running. The floor seemed to rise up to meet him, but he stumbled to catch his balance, and then jumped into the air, flying towards the swirling portal in the wall. He ignored Skulker yelling after him. All he knew was something was wrong, and his gut was urging him to go faster.

The portal broke open to the place he was last in the Ghost Zone, except at the same time, everything had changed. Ignoring his ghost sense, he looked around. When he had last been here, his friends had been safely in the Speeder, and now what he saw rooted him to the spot.

Smoke curling into the air. The Specter Speeder engulfed in flames. The back blown out completely. A smashed windshield, with smoke so heavily pouring from it that it obscured what he needed to see, but was too scared to look for. And next to it all was a flash of light, reflecting off a rusty breastplate. Red muscular arms protruding from either side, seeming too big for armor. The ghost seemed to sense him. He turned slowly to face Danny.

Assassin's black eyes immediately locked onto his, and Danny couldn't pull himself away. Time seemed to stop. Assassin grinned with a feral pleasure, and Danny didn't have the strength to move. But he needed to move. His brain screamed at him to move, but he couldn't. It felt like his feet were rooted to the spot. Sam. Tuck.

In the end, it was his ghost sense going off again that finally made him snap back to his senses. He held his head, getting dizzy from breaking the eye contact. There was more to Assassin's eyes than he had thought.

Suddenly, Danny felt something being pressed into his stunned hands. He looked down and saw the medallion as it was uncloaked from invisibility. Danny glanced back up, subconsciously knowing from years of training to never take your eyes of the enemy. But it was already too late.

If he were not as experienced, he would have assumed Assassin had disappeared, but after glancing around the area, he saw what looked like a color smudge, flying at an unbelievable speed toward him. He knew he needed to move fast. Danny fumbled with the pendant, watching as the blur came towards him at incredible rate. Danny squeezed his eyes closed, braced for impact just as the pendant dropped around his neck.

He knew he was safe when he felt time stop around him. Chancing a peek out, he let out a cry and stumbled back. Assassin's outstretched hands were only inches away from his face, his red face contorted in a horrible way. Being this close, Danny could see the small white dot in the middle of his eyes that acted as his pupil, and his yellowing teeth that looked like they had been through a pencil sharpener.

After his eyes quickly scanned over the ghost that had put him in the hospital, he immediately ducked under him and flew towards the frozen smoke. Once he approached, he slowed down, once again wary. His heart was pounding in his chest. What if he was already too late?

Clinching his fists, he plunged into the unmoving smoke, and quickly after, saw his two best friends through the haze. He felt his heart stop.

**AMITY PARK HOSPITAL**

Danny sat in his room in the hospital, looking down at his hands. The Manson's, the Foley's, and his own parents were already on their way. The doctors hadn't told him anything, as Fenton or as Phantom. When he phased them into the hospital as Phantom, the doctors merely got them on stretchers shooed him away. After asking doctor after doctor if they were going to be okay, the only answer he could get was, "I don't know yet."

Finally, he realized that he was only scaring people as Phantom, so he went invisible and merged with his clone, sill resting in his assigned room in the hospital. He was still numb. He was trying to figure out how to hide his burnt hands from the doctors and his parents. They were red, they itched, and throbbed dully. He didn't even realize it hurt as he was patting out the frozen fire on Sam's shoulder and Tuck's back.

He needed to know what was happening, but he was irrationally terrified that going down to watch invisibly might some how screw up the machinery or freak out one of the doctors that should be focusing or something. And the worst part was knowing that it was his fault his two best friends were now fighting for their lives in the ER. Assassin was after him, not them. As long as Assassin was hunting him, they would be in danger of being in the crossfire. Danny pulled out the shining medallion from under his covers. Looking at it, he knew that he needed to find Assassin and get it over with quickly. The sooner the better.

Except for right at that moment his parents quietly pushed into the room. He slid the medallion back under the covers. "How are you doing, sweetie?" His mom asked as he looked back up at her.

He ignored her question and started firing his own. "What's going on? Are they okay?"

His mom walked swiftly to his side. "So you've heard then."

"Of course. The- the doctor's knew they were my friends," Danny quickly made up. His doctors actually hadn't told him anything.

"Well, the last we heard, Tucker will be fine. He's out of danger, but he's still asleep. The doctors said that he has some troublesome cuts and burns, but they'll heal in time."

Danny didn't allow himself to relax yet. "And Sam?" He pressed.

His mom hesitated, and her expression made his heart freeze. She said the news slowly. "They said that she took quite a blow to the head… her brain's swelling. If it doesn't stop, she'll have to go into surgery."

Danny clenched his burnt fists, barely feeling the pain shooting up his arm. He got right to the point. "What does that mean?"

His mom refused to meet his eye line. "We don't know yet. If the swelling stops, she'll have a better chance… but they say that even if she comes out of it okay, she might have lasting effects." Danny didn't say anything, knowing his mother would press on. "She might have brain injury."

Danny felt his world falling down around him. "What does that mean?" He asked hoarsely, his throat dry.

His mom shook her head, blinking rapidly. "We'll have to see when she wakes up. They said that she might not remember anything. They said she might not wake up at all," seeing her son's expression, Maddie immediately wrapped her arms around him. "But we also have to remember that she might walk out of this without a scratch."

Danny focused on his breathing, trying to keep it calm. Sam would pull through. She always did, right? But he knew this time was different. Never had their ghost fights landed them in the hospital.

The longer he waited the more danger they were all in. He knew that Assassin used to be in the Ghost Zone. By now he could be anywhere. Danny could have finished him off before bringing Sam and Tucker to the hospital, but he wasn't thinking properly then.

This was partially his fault. He could have stopped him. But he realized it was also Assassin's fault. If he wasn't so power hungry and crazy in the first place… he felt his eyes burning.

"Danny?" His mom asked worriedly squeezing his arms as she drew back from the hug. But Danny didn't hear her. He didn't see her. He knew what he had to do. "You're eyes…" his mom gasped, but he just shook off her grip and hopped off the bed.

He reached under his covers and pulled out Clockworks medallion and with his back to his parents, phased the IV out of his arm. "Honey- what is that? What are you doing?" But Danny didn't answer, but instead he turned and ran out of the room. "Where are you—" but the door closed, cutting off his mom's worried voice and his dad's stunned form.

He ran the length of the hall, nearly plowing over an unsuspecting nurse. He heard the door to his room bang open. He turned the corner and found himself in an abandoned hallway. Running to the nearest door, he skid to a stop and tumbled inside what was thankfully a janitor's closet. Throwing up his arms, he silently transformed and took too the air, hearing one last desperate "Danny!" before he shot up through the ceiling and into the sky above the hospital.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the sunlight glairing off of the roof. Knowing he couldn't sense ghosts with the pendant on, he simply wrapped it around his hand securely. He was about to take off towards his house when his ghost sense went off. Tensing, Danny scanned the skyline, looking for a red blur. He didn't see anything.

After waiting a few moments, he decided if it was the ghost he was looking for he would have attacked all ready, so he took to the sky when his ghost sense went off again. Out of habit he looked around once more. Finally, he saw something appear out of the corner of his eye. He tensed and turned around. Instead of seeing Assassin, like he was expecting, he saw Skulker floating with his arms crossed.

Danny's unclenched his fists, not noticing how bad his hands were shaking. "Where is he, Skulker?" He asked, his voice wavering.

Skulker replied back without missing a beat. "He's furious he let you get away. You need to go into hiding until you have the strength to-"

"I'm not going to go into hiding," Danny quickly shot down. "I'm going to find him, and I'm going to finish this."

Skulker looked slightly taken aback by this, but he quickly covered it up. "He's powerful. If he catches you off guard-" but Danny cut him off again.

"He won't catch me off guard. I have this," he said, gesturing to Clockworks pendent.

"I don't think you understand. He's been going easy on you… now that he knows that you're not as powerful as he previously thought, he's going to come after you. I convinced him not to attack you while you were in the hospital because I told him it was the coward's way out… but now that he's seen you out of the hospital I don't think I can stop him."

There was a heavy silence. Danny's fist clinched again, and he narrowed his eyes. He spoke his words slowly, accusingly. "What do you mean you 'convinced' him?"

Skulker, knowing the implications of what he was saying, chose his words carefully. "I've- I've earned Assassin's trust by making him believe I'm on his side," he explained. "I know when he's planning to attack, and I've been able to sway his decisions for your benefit. I was never going to tell you because I knew you were going to react negatively- but now that the situation's changed, we need to make a plan."

"Did you know he was going to attack Sam and Tucker?" Danny asked dead calm.

Skulker immediately looked down. "I-" but he didn't have to finish. Danny had already put it together. The call. The friend that invited him to go 'hunting'.

Within a blink of an eye, Danny slammed Skulker against the wall and pinned him there, and had a glowing green fist pulled back. "I- I didn't know he meant them!" Skulker exclaimed, hiding his nervousness by being defensive. "He just asked if I wanted to go hunting with him, and I blew him off to protect you!"

"So you're telling me you had no idea it was them he was going to attack? Even after you saw them with me?" Danny asked sarcastically, not relaxing his arm.

Skulker refused to meet his eyes. "I… well…" it was all Danny needed. Danny swirled him around and let loose the blast in a vicious punch. Skulker was flung several dozens of feet before regaining his composure. Automatically, he activated both of his shoulder rockets and laser guns, and aimed them all at Danny.

There was a tense moment while Skulker's guns whirred to life, both waiting for the other to attack. After a few seconds, Skulker growled, and inactivated all of his weapons. "You stupid little- if it wasn't for me you'd be dead right now!"

"If it wasn't for you, Sam and Tucker would be standing next to me right now!" Danny retaliated back, his hands still glowing.

"They're not important!" Skulker exclaimed, but then quickly had to duck under a furiously thrown ghost ray. "What I mean is that you're the one that has to stop Assassin! Not them! My job is to protect you until you face him. Now will you stop worrying about your friends and start worrying about the future of the world?"

Danny turned away from him and closed his eyes, taking deep, calming breaths. He was starting to notice just how bad the poison in his system was burning from their small skirmish. He sunk down to the ground, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he leaned heavily against the wall. Skulker touched down in front of him, looking at him impatiently.

"What do I have to do to take this guy down?" Danny finally asked, opening his eyes.

Skulker looked at him for a moment. "First you have to get better. You're in no condition to go up against him. He'll tear you to pieces like this."

Danny stood up a little straighter. "But I have Clockworks pendent. Can't I just put it on and find him?"

Skulker shook his head. "It's not as simple as that."

"Why not?" Danny asked, holding his injured shoulder.

"Because…" he paused thinking. "I think Clockwork didn't give it to you for that." Skulker said slowly.

"What?" Danny exclaimed incredulously. "Why else would he give it to me?"

Skulker looked uncomfortable. "I don't know. But all I know was that when I woke up and found myself in his castle, there was reviewing a scene of you and him locked in combat. He paused it before I could really see anything else." He crossed his arms.

Danny rubbed his temples, thinking. "There are a lot of different futures. How do you know that one was the right one? And he must have meant for you to see it… Clockwork doesn't make mistakes."

Skulker shrugged. "Maybe he's trying to tell you that you should be prepared."

Danny turned his head so Skulker didn't see his expression. For the first time, he noticed they were in an ally, just outside the hospital. "How can I prepare to fight someone who is powerful enough to be the next Ghost King?" He asked bitterly.

"Well, first off, he's not all that powerful." Skulker said bluntly.

Danny turned to look at him again. "What do you mean?" He asked suspiciously.

"All ghosts are supposed to have the basic powers: flying, intangibility, invisibility, and some form of ghost ray." Danny nodded his head. "Assassin is different. For some reason, he has no ghost ray or intangibility."

"How?" Danny asked.

Skulker shrugged. "No idea. But I guess it was compensated for through his speed and tracking abilities. When Pariah Dark was king, Assassin was his tracking man, and on the high council. He was one of the most feared ghosts in existence because if you were caught trying to hide from the King, he was the one that tracked you down and punished you."

Danny exhaled through clenched teeth. "If he was so feared, then why have I never heard of him until now?"

"Because everybody had thought he was obliterated. When Pariah Dark heard of a mystical armor that was hiding in an uncharted land in the Ghost Zone, he sent Assassin after it. It was supposed to increase his power by hundreds. Assassin hadn't returned until now."

"Did he find the armor?" Danny asked warily, remembering the rusty breastplate.

Skulker sighed heavily. "Yes. It is in his possession now. His senses are heightened, and he's stronger and faster than ever before. He can even shoot ectorays."

Danny clinched his teeth. "And now he thinks that in order for him to rise to power, he has to kill me?"

Skulker nodded. "Once he saw Dark's castle half decayed, he grabbed the first ghost he saw and got the story from him. Since you were able to do what took a whole gathering of elders and an army to do, he believed you had amazing powers, and he was outraged that the king of the Ghost Zone was just a child."

"But I'm not the king of the Ghost Zone! I'm not the king of anything!" Danny cried.

"He doesn't understand that. All he knows is that you're undefeated." Skulker says.

"I'm not undefeated either! Lots of ghosts get away!" Danny exclaimed in frustration.

"As long as you're still alive, you're undefeated." Skulker said bluntly. Danny opened his mouth, but then closed it again. Then he just crossed his arms. "He believes that as long as you're alive, he can't be king."

There was a silence. "How do you know all of this? Why did he come to you?"

This seemed to catch Skulker off guard. "We- uh- we have some history. I haven't really moved since the time of Pariah Dark, so he sought me out to get me in on his plan."

"You guys are friends?" Danny asked, disgusted. "That would explain why you're not scared of him."

Skulker made a face. "No. We're not friends. He's a horrible excuse for a conscious being, and he needs to be stopped." Danny cocked an eyebrow. "You don't know what you're up against. He's a murderer, but calls himself a hunter. There's no honor in his hunts. He fights dirty, and if you're not ready for it, then Clockwork says that there's not much hope for the Ghost Zone either."

"If you're so bitter, then why don't you just take him down then?" Danny asked.

"Because… I couldn't." Skulker sighed. Danny didn't say anything, sensing he would continue. Finally Skulker looked down at his feet and admitted, "he's my older brother."

There was a long silence while Danny absorbed this. "He's your brother?" Danny yelped. "I didn't know you had a brother!"

"He was even cruel as a human. You need to defeat him. He cannot be allowed to rule over the Ghost Zone. But…" Skulker's face looked like he had just sucked on a lemon, "please don't obliterate him either."

Danny swallowed. "This has been a nice chat and everything, but we still haven't gotten to the topic of how I'm supposed to beat him without the medallion- speaking theoretically of course, because I don't plan on losing this at any point in time."

"Well, I've told you he can't turn intangible or shoot ghost rays." Skulker started.

"But his armor can shoot ghost rays, and he goes so fast that he doesn't need to turn intangible, so neither of those help me."

Skulker shook his head thinking. "If you weren't fighting with the medallion… there still might be a way get the upper hand. Maybe there is a way to deactivate the armor."

"Was he wearing it in the scene you saw?" Danny asked, not allowing hope to take hold.

"Yes." Skulker replied. Danny groaned. "But there might be something that powers it that you can remove… I'll check on that the next time I see him."

"When… when is this going to go down?" Danny finally asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. I need to hear his plan and get the information about the armor to you- and then we can make a plan. Meanwhile, keep on Clockworks pendent as much as you can. You need to be in full health. Just stay in your hospital room for now- I'll need to know where you are at all times if I need to warn you about something.. I'll pay you a visit tonight and give you an update on the situation "

Danny nodded, clutching the pendent tighter in his hand. Skulker drew the conversation to a close with, "I'll go now. Just remember to keep that pendent close." Then without much hesitation, Skulker took to the air. However, Danny hadn't even heard. His mind was turning. "Warn me about something… warn me…" he said to himself, disbelievingly. He quickly took to the air in pursuit. "Wait," he yelled, taking off and flying up to his level. Skulker stopped and turned around. "The warnings! Were you the person that left me all of those warnings in red?"

Skulker looked impatient. "Of course it was me. Who else? I thought you already knew that." Skulker rolled his eyes, and took off towards the Ghost Portal. Danny just looked after him, stunned, and wasn't sure what to make of the new alliance between him and his former enemy.

**TBC…**

So this chapter is kind of extra long and contained a lot of information. Sorry for that, and the super long wait! One of the reasons it took so long to post is because I wrote out like two and a half versions of this scene, and I'm still not really happy with any of them. But updates might start to come regularly now. I've almost connected the new bit I've added in with my original written ending. There is a light at the end of the tunnel! YES!

Anyways, thank you to my reviewers! You guys keep me writing. :)

**Preemtive Karma, Niece of the Prophet Zarquon, Alexia Moonlight, hawkflyer667, Yugisrose, E-Dantes, xheartkreuzx, PhantomFreak301, Samantha Batt Vampiress, starr1095, Sanis-chan, Trinity Fenton-Phantom, KingdomHeartsDragon, Dark Sepia, AnneriaWings, PinkPanther123, Sabsi13, dragondancer123**

Please review!


End file.
